Celestial Warrior Moon: Memories of the Silver Millennium
by WeirdRaptor
Summary: As love blossoms between the star-crossed lovers, Princess Serena and Prince Endymion, dark forces conspire to bring about the end of an era. In the eternal struggle of good vs. evil, order vs. chaos, light vs. dark, there can be only one victor. Prequel fanfic to "Celestial Warrior Moon". Please R&R. Cover image by SomeoftheFame.
1. Intro

**Celestial Warrior Moon:**

 **Memories of the Silver Millennium**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any _Sailor Moon_ related properties _._ _Sailor Moon_ is the property of Toei Animation and Naoko Takeuchi. This is a fan work created to celebrate the work. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Cover image by _SomeoftheFame_. Thank you so, so much, man.

 **Author's Introduction:** Hello and welcome, good readers, to the prequel of _Celestial Warrior Moon_. This is going to be a lot shorter than the main fic, but it still isn't going to be short, really, since everyone's getting full backstories, from the Warriors/Senshi, to other Moon dwellers, Earthlings, the Dark Kingdom, everyone.

 **Content Warning:** This chapter contains a scene of intense violent and some nasty gore. New readers please be warned before continuing. However, I would not recommend this as a good jumping on point for new readers.

 **Also For new readers:** Read up to Chapter 84 of the main fic and then come here before moving onto Chapter 85. Yes, that is a lot of chapters. I apologize in advance. This is split off as its own fic in a futile attempt to keep the sheer size of the main fic somewhat under control. Yeah, it's kinda too late for that, I know.

Anyway, a couple of notes before diving in, it occurred to me that the Moon Kingdom would have developed its own calendar system. We use a lunar calendar based on the moon's phases. Obviously, the Moon Kingdom couldn't do the same thing, so I came up with one for them that uses the number of times the Moon rotates around the Earth in a year as their months. It only does so thirteen times a year despite it looking like a nightly thing from our vantage point down here. So yeah, the Moon Kingdom calendar has thirteen months. Twelve of those months will have 28 days, and the last month will have 29 to add up to a full 365. They're named using the Classic Greek numeral system. Greek numerals work like Roman ones, in which the symbols/words stack to count up past 10.

1 Alpha

2 Beta

3 Gamma

4 Delta

5 Epsilon

6 Digamma

7 Zeta

8 Eta

9 Theta

10 Iota

11 Iota-Alpha

12 Iota-Beta

13 Iota-Gamma

And there you have it. It's not fancy, but I'm not the world-building genius J.R.R. Tolkien was.

And the most widely used calendar on Earth at the time was the Julian calendar, the precursor to our current Gregorian calendar. The two are very similar, but the Gregorian calendar corrects the year length by 0.002% (no joke), so you won't need to worry about cross-referencing dates or anything like that.

 **Remembering a Kingdom**

It had been months since Usagi first revealed her dreams and visions to Luna, and asked her what the Moon Kingdom was like. Now, she no longer needed someone else's hearsay, but she still recalled the conversation well.

 _Luna stared, wide-eyed and slack jawed as Usagi finished speaking. Usagi let out a long breath._

 _"…And that's it. These dreams have to mean something. I get the part about finding the Silver Crystal being important, but what's this about a Golden Sword? And did the real Moon Kingdom really look almost like a modern city with a dome over it?" she asked._

 _Luna sunk back in her chair from the shock and looked away, staring off into space as this bomb hit her._

 _"Luna?" Usagi said, waving her hand in an attempt to get her attention._

 _How had Usagi received such visions? Everything she had described was accurate to things she couldn't know about. There had never really been any time to discuss what the Moon Kingdom was like and she was certainly never told them about the Golden Blade._

 _"Luna?" this time, Usagi was louder and more forceful._

 _The possibilities spun around in Luna's head as she tried to make sense of this._

 _"Luna!" With a great shake, Luna was dragged out of her trance._

 _Luna jerked back with a cry. She was suddenly lookng into Usagi's big eyed stare._

 _"Oh, Usagi," Luna said, as comprehension came back to her._

 _The two sat staring each other awkwardly for a moment longer._

 _"Sorry about that," Luna then added apologetically. "You just gave me a real shock there."_

 _"Really?" Usagi asked, intrigued. "How?"_

 _"You might want to sit down," Luna replied._

 _Usagi nodded and obeyed, taking seat on Luna's bed again. Luna took a deep breath, and began:_

 _"The Moon Kingdom was a great nation of modern wonders, the likes of which Earth is just now beginning to catch up with. However, even this modern era of technological wonders still a good few more decades before it matches the Moon Kingdom's level."_

 _Usagi nodded, indicating that she was listening. Luna continued:_

 _"On the moon, we had concrete streets, buildings made of crystal and glass instead of iron and glass, and cars, trucks, and motorcycles. We had electricity, but it wasn't fueled by a power plant in traditional Earth terms." Luna then paused._

 _"The Silver Crystal, right?" Usagi guessed._

 _Luna nodded._

 _"You got it," Luna answered, with growing enthusiasm._

 _Then Luna stood up and held up her hands as she really started to get into her lecture._

 _"It powered everything! Lamps, lights, the cars, the dome, our artificial gravity, our air supply, absolutely everything!" Luna said._

 _At that, Usagi blinked as she grew curious._

 _"Your air supply?" she asked, inquisitively._

 _"Well, yes," Luna replied, beginning to slowly walk around the room. "The moon has no inherent atmosphere of its own. So we had to develop an artificial one using our technology and the crystal's power."_

 _Usagi looked confused._

 _"So…you're not from the moon originally?" Usagi asked, confused._

 _"Well, of course not!" Luna replied. "No one can live there unless they build the necessary facilities first."_

 _"But you were there a long time, right?" Usagi asked._

 _"Oh, yes, we were there a good ten thousand years before the fall," Luna answered._

 _"So you've been here eleven thousand years," Usagi stated to make sure she had this right._

 _"Right," Luna replied, pointing at her to punctuate the response._

 _"How long did the Silver Millennium last?" Usagi asked._

 _Luna held up her hands, hopelessly at the girl._

 _"About the length of its namesake, Usagi," Luna answered in a tone that told Usagi that she really should have guessed that one. "From 10 B.C. to 992 A.D. The Silver Millennium was an era of untold prosperity for our kingdom. Then the Dark Kingdom invaded with all the power of their leader, Metalia, backing them up, and it fell to ruin. It was on the night of our princess's wedding, too."_

 _Luna said that last statement with a great deal of melancholy._

 _"Really?" Usagi asked, becoming fascinated._

 _"Oh, yes," Luna replied. "She was to be wed to a prince from Earth to form a permanent alliance with a powerful kingdom on this planet."_

 _Usagi leaned back, and her eyes lit up as if she had just thought of something._

 _"Speaking of kingdoms, I'm Celestial Warrior Moon, right? I represent the Moon Kingdom, specifically, right?" she asked._

 _Luna nodded._

 _"That is correct."_

 _"So were the other planets inhabited and had their own kingdoms, too?" Usagi asked._

 _Luna shook her head._

 _"No, the other Celestial Warriors simply draw their power from the planets. The other planets just aren't inhabitable," Luna explained._

 _"Eh?" Usagi asked. "We draw our power from the big rocks floating in space?"_

 _Luna chuckled and leaned back._

 _"Well, it's more that you draw your power from their cores. Each planet has a core that is the gravitational center that holds the whole thing together and in its place orbiting around the sun. But there's more to them than that, something science can't detect," Luna explained. "The cores of many planets are full of cosmic power from an unknown source. No one knows why, but that energy forms into crystals, called Warrior Crystals. They're somewhat like the Silver Crystal. You have one inside you…well, not physically, but your Warrior Crystal is attached to your spirit."_

 _Usagi held a hand to her chest._

 _"I've got a crystal attached to me, giving me the power of the moon?" she asked._

 _"Yes, and the Beryllus Crystals in the bodies of Beryl's generals are crude copies of a Warrior Crystal. The concept is the same, though. Fuse a human soul with a Warrior Crystal and they're granted great power," Luna explained. "Anyone fated to become a Celestial Warrior had high standing in the Moon Kingdom as a Lady of the court."_

 _"So what were the Warriors doing before the Moon Kingdom came along?" Usagi asked._

 _"Nothing. This was a primitive solar system, devoid of Warriors. I don't know the method she used, but Queen Serenity somehow cultivated the planet cores to birth the Warrior Crystals," Luna answered._

 _"So how did she keep the Crystals from appearing in someone on Earth?" Usagi asked._

 _"The Warrior Crystals pass down family lines, mother to daughter."_

 _"Huh?" Usagi blurted out, surprised._

 _"You see, when a Celestial Warrior gives birth to a daughter, she gradually loses her Warrior Crystal and eventually she ceases to be one, because she passes the crystal onto the next Warrior, her daughter. Well, presumably to her daughter," Luna told her._

 _"Geez," Usagi said, both troubled and amazed. "That must suck when the kid's still like, six, and you really need a Warrior."_

 _"That's why Celestial Warriors were forbidden by law to become pregnant around the same time as one another," Luna responded with a sigh._

 _"That's harsh," Usagi said, more troubled than before._

 _"Well, being a Celestial Warrior carries a lot of responsibility. You have to make sacrifices. You've already experienced some of the hardships of being who you are," Luna said._

 _"So what happens if a Warrior dies before she has a daughter?" Usagi asked._

 _"The next runner-up in the family can inherit the soul link to the crystal. I have no idea what happens if there are no other potential heirs," Luna replied with a shrug._

 _"So anyone could be a Warrior if they were in the right family?" Usagi asked, cynically._

 _"Eh, yes and no. The Crystals are not completely without a will of their own. They aren't alive in the traditional sense of the word, but they only join themselves to those strong and noble in spirit," Luna explained._

 _Then Luna smirked._

 _"You'd be amazed at how many times an illegitimate child of one of the nobles would receive the Warrior Crystal over their more wealthy relatives," she said with a laugh. "The last Jupiter before the fall was one such case, a baker's daughter, as a matter of fact. That's why we're almost certain you girls are descended from the Celestial Warrior's family lines."_

 _Usagi nodded, accepting this information._

 _"Alright, so what was the standing of the Celestial Warriors in the Moon Kingdom, exactly? From what you say, it sounds like they were lords, or, er… ladies," Usagi said._

 _"They were. The Moon kingdom was a matriarchal society, largely. Yes, I know the word 'kingdom' implies otherwise, but queendom just doesn't sound as good," Luna with a bit of humor._

" _Okay, then…" Usagi paused, shaking her head._

 _"I can't believe I never sat down to talk about this with you before," Usagi said in disbelief at her lack of consideration for the topic._

 _Luna chuckled._

 _"Let's be fair, here, Usagi. There was_ _always_ _something else important on your mind all those other times," she said in good humor._

 _"Yeah, I guess, but still…" Usagi replied._

 _"And in case you're wondering, the other Celestial Warriors all lived in their own properties in the Moon Kingdom. Here, let me show you," Luna said._

 _She turned towards the desk and took out a piece of paper and a pencil. She drew something on it, turned back around, and held it up for Usagi to see. The image looked a little like a flower or the inside of a honeycomb. It was seven hexagons connected together. One in the middle with the other six surrounding it in a circle. The center piece read "Moon District; Capitol". The top was "Venus District". The "Mercury" and "Mars" districts made up the upper and lower right, respectively. "Jupiter District" was on the bottom, and the "Uranus" and "Neptune" districts were the lower and upper left pieces, respectively._

 _"Former Celestial Warriors would take the role of the ruling Lady of their district after their child Awakened. Their daughters meanwhile served in their role as the Celestial Warriors," Luna said._

 _"Okay, but what about Earth, Saturn, and Pluto?" Usagi asked. "Where are their honeycombs? Are the others going to join us?"_

 _"Uranus and Neptune's duties lie elsewhere, and as for Earth, for some reason or another, there never was a Celestial Warrior Earth. While the Celestial Warriors of the inner galaxy are the Princess's body guards and the Queen's confidants, the others had other duties. Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn guarded the Outer Rim of this solar system from all outside threats. They were the first line of defense we had against anything that invaded from outside," Luna answered. "They will again fill that duty, someday."_

 _Usagi pouted and let out a 'humph'._

 _"They didn't do a very good job! They let Metalia right in."_

 _That got her a slap across a face from Luna. Usagi fell back, clutching her cheek where she had been struck, utterly shocked._

 _"Show some respect!" Luna roared angrily, shooting up from her seat. "Ouranos and Amphitrite, who were the Warriors Uranus and Neptune at the time, died trying to stop Metalia from invading the Sol System. It took Queen Serenity and the power of Silver Crystal to wear_ _that thing_ _down enough to seal it away! Because of that, young relatives of theirs', younger than you are, had to take up their charge! Pluto was gracious enough to teach them and lead them until they were old enough to patrol the Outer Rim on their own."_

 _"Sorry…" Usagi apologized, pitifully. "I guess I didn't think before I spoke."_

 _Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming down. She sat back down._

 _"It's alright. You didn't know. Sorry I overreacted. Did I hit you hard?" Luna asked, considerately._

 _"Nah, I'm fine," Usagi said, still rubbing her cheek._

 _"Anyway," Luna continued. "Pluto was exclusively the Guardian of Time and Space, keeping reality flowing on its natural course, so the less attention that was drawn to her, the better. And Saturn…"_

 _Luna trailed off, looking very distressed. She sighed._

 _"Saturn is, or_ _was_ _, rather the Warrior of Death and Rebirth. She was lost to us in a great battle against an evil from another galaxy. I believe they came from the…" Luna paused as she tried to recall. "The Tau Ceti Star System."_

 _Luna was hesitant to just say it, since she wasn't sure she was remembering it correctly. She shook it off and waved her hand dismissively._

 _"Well, the name itself is not important. They called themselves the Deathbusters, and they were led by one of their generals, The Mistress 9," Luna exposited._

 _The way that last title rolled off the tongue sent Usagi shivers._

 _"What did they want?" Usagi asked, almost afraid to know._

 _"They wanted to open a gateway to Earth for their leader, Pharaoh 90 (before you ask, no, I don't know the significance of the numbers in their names, Usagi), so he could assimilate himself into Earth. Their plan was to establish a powerful stronghold in this part of the galaxy," Luna answered._

 _"So what happened to Saturn?" Usagi asked._

 _Luna shrugged._

 _"I don't know. She fought Mistress 9 woman-to-woman, and it's said that they both perished. I once asked Myddin about it… couldn't get him to tell me. He looked… disturbed by the memory, though. Myddin is a man of many millennia. He's seen many things, great and terrible, so if Saturn's fate unsettles him so, we can both assume it was real,_ _real_ _bad," Luna said in a low voice._

 _Usagi chewed her lip uncomfortably._

 _"Let's change the subject," she said suddenly. "So you said you guys were originally from someplace else? Where?"_

 _Luna let out a single melancholic laugh._

 _"Where, indeed? I would imagine that space has long since been filled by something else, as the place we came from no longer exists," Luna said. "It was called, Planet Khrono, though, of the Chronia galaxy. Don't bother asking Ami about it. It hasn't existed for 11 and a half millennia and will be found in none of Earth's astronomy texts and charts."_

 _Usagi didn't know to be incredulous or terrified._

 _"Doesn't exist anymore? What could have wiped out a huge collection of millions, or billions of stars and planets?" Usagi asked, scratching her head._

 _"A black hole, for starters, but that's not what hit the Chronia galaxy," Luna replied. "There was a war, a great galactic war. Everyone lost. The only survivors were our ancestors who boarded the Deep Space Arks and fled for their lives. Queen Khrono sent them away with the Silver Crystal in their keeping."_

 _"And you came to the moon," Usagi said. "Why didn't you just come to Earth?"_

 _"Well, our ancestors couldn't breathe the atmosphere of any of this system's planets in the beginning. They also had nowhere else they could go by that point that could be reached with their limited supplies," Luna answered. "So they used their technology and the power of the Silver Crystal to terraform a section of the moon. They built themselves a dome, built the first buildings by scavenging parts of the arks and whatever materials they could use up there and developed a supply of Khrono air. They gradually introduced Earth oxygen into it. The plan was to slowly evolve to become tolerant of it and then relocate to Earth. By the time they had switched to Earth air entirely, they had settled onto the moon pretty comfortably."_

 _"I see," Usagi replied. After a pause, she added: "So what caused the war? How come the queen of Khrono didn't go with her people?"_

 _"Don't know. It's a mystery. While floating around in space with nowhere to call their home, that knowledge was lost," Luna answered. "They left in a big hurry and in their struggle for survival, recording all the details probably didn't seem that important, as silly as that sounds. What is known is the Chronia galaxy's solar systems started fighting amongst themselves for whatever reason. Power, territory, religion, who knows? It was chaos that was for sure."_

 _Usagi's hand moved from her cheek and started rubbing the back of her head and then made its way up to her hair where it started scratching._

 _"I didn't realize how dark the Moon Kingdom's history was," she said._

 _Luna laughed at that._

 _"Well, it's history, Usagi. In all eras and places, it's made up of 80% war," she said._

 _"So what about this Moon Princess, the Earth prince, and the Golden Sword, then?" Usagi asked._

 _"Princess Serena, Prince Endymion, and the Sword of Heroes," Luna commented idly. "Serena was the last princess of the Moon Kingdom, and a real handful at times."_

 _She looked at Usagi with a mischievous glint in her eyes._

 _"Not unlike you," Luna said, teasingly._

 _Usagi blew her a raspberry in return. Luna ignored that, and turned her eyes away sadly._

 _"A Princess, a royal pain, and a very dear friend," Luna muttered wistfully._

 _"You… knew her?" Usagi asked, hesitating to say anything that might upset Luna._

 _Luna chuckled ruefully._

 _"Knew her? I was the daughter of the one of the queen's personal maids. I grew up in the palace with her. We played together all the time. I was her only real friend. Friends are a rare commodity when you're royalty, and I knew that. I was named Serena's personal attendant when I was twelve. We were always together," Luna paused before continuing. "Then she got engaged to Prince Endymion of Camelot."_

 _"Camelot?" Usagi questioned. "Camelot, as in King Arthur, Merlin, the sword in the stone, and all that? THAT Camelot?"_

 _"Oh, yes,_ _that_ _Camelot. It was the primary adversary of The Dark Kingdom down here on Earth. Of course, Morgan la Fey becoming Metalia's right hand servant at the time probably helped them make that decision," Luna said dryly._

 _"Who's Morgan la Fey?"_

 _"…Oh, right, you probably know nothing about her. Morgan la Fey was the jealous older half-sister of Arthur. She felt that the kingdom should be hers', or at least be ruled by her son, Mordred, since Arthur was illegitimate."_

 _"But_ _he_ _pulled the sword from the stone," Usagi asserted._

 _"Indeed, he did. It was the first time in history the Golden Sun began to be passed down a family line," Luna said._

 _"Eh?"_

 _Luna sighed._

 _"Herald, Gigas, Dyrnwyn, Fragarach, Shamshire-e Zomorrodnegar, Skofnung, Dáinsleif, Gram, Excalibur, and many more… The blade has been called many names and celebrated in myths and legends throughout history, but they all speak of the same weapon: The Golden Blade, the sword of heroes. If they be worthy, they will wield its power," Luna said, mysteriously. "No one truly knows its origins, but Queen Serenity and Myddin had a theory about it."_

 _"Oh?" Usagi said, sitting on the edge of her seat._

 _"Uh-huh. They theorized that it's how the Warrior Crystal of Earth manifested itself," Luna explained. "In fact the kings of Camelot used the sword as a means to decide who succeeded them. That is how they survived as long as they did against the Dark Kingdom without our direct help. They would literally stick the sword back into the stone at the time one king passed away and the person who could draw it out next was named king or queen."_

 _"That makes sense. Only the worthy can have it," Usagi said, happily._

 _By now, though, Luna was looking anything but happy as old memories and wounds came to the forefront. When she spoke again, it was with great sorrow and weight._

 _"When Endymion and Serena began courting, the Moon Kingdom came to Camelot's aid in the final campaign against the Dark Kingdom, as led by Morgan la Fey, but like a hydra, cut off one head, and another shall take its place. Times were peaceful for a while, but then a young woman named Beryl, who had been a Sage in the king's court, took Morgan's place after losing everything. The Dark Kingdom was born anew. They came down on us without warning and without mercy on what should have been the happiest night for both the Moon Kingdom and Camelot. It didn't help that the prince's personal attendants turned traitor," she said, finishing her story._

 _"Attendants?" Usagi asked. She looked away as she mulled over who that might be, and then it clicked. "Beryl's four generals."_

 _"Yep. As for your visions, Usagi, I don't know why you started having them," Luna replied. "But I'm sure there's a good reason for it. Why, without you bringing it up… I never would have imagined the Golden Blade might resurface."_

 _"Why not?" Usagi asked._

 _"Well, it's been missing ever since the fall of the Moon Kingdom. After generations of being carried around by heroes and kings, it simply vanished," Luna answered with a clueless shrug. "Anyway, I'll have to sleep on these reoccurring dreams of yours'. Please let me know if there are any changes in them."_

 _"Alright," Usagi nodded. She got up from the bed and headed over to the door._

 _She opened it, and then stopped and turned to Luna._

 _"Thanks for listening, and telling me everything. It really made a lot of things clear up for me," she said, and then exited the room._

 _"No problem," Luna called after her._

 _Once left alone, Luna sat deep in thought._

 _"I've never noticed before, but… Usagi… She looks so much like Serena, right down to the hairstyle. Could she be…?" she wondered. Luna bit her thumb apprehensively as she contemplated this while curling a strand of her hair around a finger on her other hand._

In her mind's eye, Usagi could see Luna's recollections had been accurate. More than that, though, she began remembering other things, too, such as how the alien refugees had discovered the Sol System in the year 9004 B.C., by Earth reckoning. Six years later, the travelers officially founded their nation and established their calendar, starting it at Year 1, M.N.S. The initials stood for "Metá to Néo Spíti", or "After Homecoming."

Usagi could now remember her former self was born in the year 9974, M.N.S. On Earth, the year was 976 A.D. Her birth had been on the 12th of the seventh Lunarian month, Zeta, or the June 30th.

"Wait, that's strange," Usagi thought. She sat and stared out Rei's bedroom window in the early morning hours. "I… the me I am now, or however the heck I should say that, was also born on June 30th. Wait… did I just calculate when Serena was born by Earth's calendar?! Holy crap, I have to tell Rei as soon as she wakes up! She'll freak!"

Though she remembered much, Usagi's scope of the events of surrounding her life had been limited by years of being restricted to living in the Lunar palace. She'd had little exposure to the outside world prior to when she began sneaking off to Earth, so there was much she was not privy to. And even some things that had happened within the castle walls which were kept from her.

One such secret now dwelled only in the memories of Keepers old enough to remember.

 **Next: The Prologue:** The Birth of Princess Serena


	2. Prologue: Birth of Princess Serena

**Prologue**

 **The Birth of Princess Serena**

Early morning, Lunar Palace, Lunar District, the Moon Kingdom, 9974, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 976 A.D., Earth reckoning.

"I'm sure she's fine, My Liege. She is our strong, beloved Queen, after all."

"Just what makes you think I am worried?"

"Well, if I may be so bold, Lord Chiron, you're staring up at the Earth from the ballroom balcony as you always do when you need to think, and you're tapping your little fingers, as you always do when you're apprehensive about something. Given that Her Majesty has been in labor for 47 hours now, we're all beginning to worry."

Lord Chiron grunted in annoyance.

"You and hawk eyes are both worthy of divine condemnation, woman," he grumbled.

"As you wish, Milord, as you wish," she said sardonically.

Chiron turned away from the eternally night sky, facing his companion as she stood with her hands folded in her lap. Silent understanding passed between them as they looked into each other's eyes. He set his hand upon the ivory-like surface of the balcony rail, leaning his weight on it. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and short, curly blonde hair with amber eyes. He had a chiseled, proud face with a prominent clefted chin. Tonight he was mostly in informal wear, due to the lack of guests. Black sandals, light brown pants tied in place at his waist with a dark sash, and a white undershirt with long sleeves. His shirt was unlaced, leaving it open clear down his chest.

"Any news, Lady Isabel?" Chiron asked her. "I would hope you have come up from our private medical ward to give me some kind of news of my wife's wellbeing."

"The contractions are deep now, real deep," Isabel replied. "It's to the point where Her Majesty's breathing is labored, and they're once every few minutes. She's dilated as well. You will soon welcome your baby girl into this world."

Chiron's own breath hitched as he was hit with a wave of emotion. Nervousness, glee, and maybe a little fear, all because of this little life coming into the world.

"I have to go to her, then," he said in almost a whisper.

He started towards the West wing. When he passed by, Isabel turned on her knees and followed behind him in precise action, keeping exactly seven paces behind him as custom dictated. Lady Nerio Isabel fon Mars had dark crimson neck length hair hanging loose and eyes to match. She subconsciously noted every movement the shadows made in their trek towards the door. So she saw a figure enter the ballroom from the left.

"My Liege," she said, stopping.

"Huh?" Chiron said, stopping and glancing over his shoulder at her.

The figure stepped into the dim light of the ballroom, revealing it was a palace guard.

"My Lord Chiron!" he called, quickly walking towards the two. "I bring grave news!"

"You were all instructed not to bother Your Queen and Lord this night!" Chiron rebuked him angrily. "You were told everything was to wait until morning."

The guard threw himself onto his knees and bowed with his faced to the floor.

"Forgive me, Milord, but you also said to report any new Dark Kingdom activity no matter what occasion I might be interrupting," the guard pled.

Chiron regarded him for a moment, and his features softened with a sigh. He simply nodded at the guard.

"Ay, did I say that, didn't I?" he admitted. "To your feet, good man."

He faced the guard in silver platemail fully.

"Very well, deliver your report," he ordered.

"Yes, Your Grace," the guard said as he stood. "They've returned to Isles of Britain and attacked portside villages. They've taken a foothold on the land and move inward. Our analysts fear the king might do something rash without Myddin down there to advise him."

Chiron frowned at that. He knew it was true. Earthlings did have a tendency to be… hasty. They had invited Myddin to the Moon for this occasion, but Serenity had promised they would keep an eye on The Dark Kingdom for him for the duration of his visit, however long it was.

"Where are they?" Isabel asked.

"They have a base of operations on the Isle of Man," the guard replied. "They attacked the west coast, and have occupied many of the ports. They move inward towards Camelot and London as we speak."

Chiron and Isabel exchanged grim looks before the former turned back to the guard with a nod.

"Very well, I will inform Myddin of the situation as soon as I see him. You are dismissed," he said.

"Yes, My Liege," the guard said, bowing his head and rapping the knuckles of his right fist against his plated left shoulder. "I will return to Captain Kratos immediately."

Then he bowed low, turned on his heels, and left them. Chiron and Isabel exchanged one more look and then entered the West Wing. Interior was much like the rest of the palace, made of an ivory-white material mined from the rigid lithospheric mantle of the moon. Perfectly identical blocks made up the walls, floor, and ceiling. They passed through the main hall of the wing and down to the first floor. From there, they entered the private royal medical ward.

When they arrived, there was a small gathering of relatives and some of the staff in the waiting room just outside the delivery room.

"How is she?" Chiron asked.

"No news just yet," a maid answered, turning away from serving tea from Celine's younger sisters, who sat with their father.

"Where is Myddin, then?" Chiron asked. "I will need to speak with him."

"I think he's gone up to the observatory," the maid answered.

Chiron swore under his breath, and was about to order Isabel to go fetch him when there was a loud cry from the delivery room. Inside, Serenity was screaming in agony as the little life inside her began its journey to leave into the larger world.

"Sere?!" Chiron cried and almost ran to the door.

He threw open the doors and went inside. Isabel followed him, turned around, and politely closed them behind her.

"Oh, Great Mother! It hurts! It hurts! Get her out! Oh, I can't take it!" Serenity screamed.

She squeezed the hand which held hers' so tightly. The girl by her bedside let out a bit of a yelp from the tight grip. Serenity turned to her, grimacing and crying in pain.

"Where is Chiron, Celine?! Where's my husband?! Is he coming?!" she moaned through clenched teeth.

The girl, a teenaged Celine, squeezed her hand back and leaned in trying to keep her composure.

"It's alright, Auntie Sere. Isabel's gone to fetch him. Just endure a little while longer," the girl cooed softly.

"I'm trying, Celine. I'm trying!" Serenity groaned painfully and looked her niece in the eyes.

"The child's almost here," the doctor announced. "Your Majesty, I need you to keep pushing!"

"Oh, GAAAAAH!" Serenity shrieked as pain shot all throughout her nether-regions.

"I'm here, Sere!" Chiron said, appearing by her side.

In perfect tandem, Celine slid out of the bedside chair and Chiron slid in, taking his wife's hand.

"Chiron! It hurts!" Serenity whined.

"I know. I know it does, Sere. Just hold on a little longer," Chiron said weakly.

He now gripped her hand in both of his.

"Th-the baby's almost here. I… I could see the top of the head poking out," Celine stuttered as she came into view over Chiron's shoulder. "She's practically here, Auntie Sere. Just keep pushin…"

"I AM PUSHING!"

Celine flinched and withdrew, just to flinch again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up to see one of her sisters-in-arms.

"Composure, Celine," the brown-headed Jovian said.

"Y-Yes, Callisto, of course," Celine tried not to stammer, but failed.

She let herself be pulled away from the soon-to-be-parents and the doctors so there wouldn't be too many people crowding around. Celine now stood with her sisters-in-arms off to the side. As she was technically the leader, she stood in the center flanked by the others. However, since her "subordinates" were all around the age of the teen's late mother, there were for all intents and purposes led by Isabel until Celine was ready. On her right stood the Martian and the Jovian, and on her right were Amphitrite fon Mercury and Peitho fon Venus. There the Celestial Warriors were in silent support of their queen.

"Just one more, My Moonlight, just one…" Chiron encouraged, but was cut off by the sound they had all waited for.

"She's here!" the doctor announced, holding the crying infant.

Serenity, drenched in sweet, bright red from the all the pain and effort the delivery had taken, and exhausted, slumped into near unconsciousness on the bed. Chiron continued to hold his wife's hand, fingers nervously twitching. He leaned in close and kissed his wife on the forehead before he did anything else.

"It's over, darling," he said, running his hand down the side of her face lovingly. "Our baby's here."

Even through her state of middling between the waking world and unconsciousness, she managed a small smile. Chiron looked up to the crying child in the doctor's hands. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she screamed at suddenly being taken from the warm darkness of her mother's womb to the bright coldness out of the outside world.

"Awwwww…!" Celine started to coo excitedly, leaning forward.

This earned her an elbowing from Callisto, and she regained her composure, returning to the proper centered stance with the others off to the side.

Chiron stood as the doctor approached him, holding his newborn daughter carefully. The physician smiled and bowed slightly before him.

"Congratulations, Your Majesties," he said. "It's a girl, and she's perfectly healthy."

Chiron was unable to contain a single, overjoyed laugh from escaping, but was able to hold back the tears.

"Oh, thank the Great Mother," he said, and looked lovingly on the child in the doctor's arms.

He reached out to take her.

"May I?" he asked.

"Of course," the doctor said, gingerly handing the little life to him.

Chiron turned to Serenity and sat by her side again.

"Look, look!" he said softly in an attempt to contain his elation. "Meet our baby girl, my Moonlight!"

Serenity's eyes quivered for a moment as color slowly returned to her. She turned her head to face her husband and the somewhat quieter sobs of their girl. She forced her eyes open and beheld the life she carried for nine months.

"Say hello to Mother, Serena," Chiron said.

Serenity held up her hands to her receive her little girl and the tyke was gently given. Chiron stood up and stepped to the side, allowing the Warriors a look. Celine broke custom again, smiling with a giggle and took a running step forward before being stopped again.

"Let her," Serenity quietly said, not looking up from Serena.

The little red-faced baby still had her eyes squeezed shut as she cried. What hair she had was still matted from the residue birthing liquids. She still needed to be more properly cleaned, but the medical staff had held off on that for a moment to let the girls' parents properly greet her.

Obeying their queen, Amphitrite and Callisto let go of Celine and their little sister-in-arms ran over to her aunt's bedside.

"Oh, she's adorable!" Celine gushed. "Not at all what I expected, but here she is!"

Serenity chuckled.

"What did you expect her to look like?" the matriarch asked, struggling to keep her voice audible.

"A baby," Celine answered.

The new parents both laughed.

"Yes, I suppose she still has that little old man dipped in barbecue sauce look to her, doesn't her?" Chiron quipped.

"You…" Serenity chided tiredly. She turned back to Celine. "She'll look more like you were expecting after she's cleaned and had time to rest."

"Just like Her Majesty now needs time to rest," the doctor chimed in.

He and a nurse stepped up with a stethoscope and a blood-pressure reader. Serenity handed Serena back to Chiron, giving the examiners room to read the queen's vitals. Chiron rocked the child back and forth, gently singing to her in an attempt to calm her down from the confusion of this new world she was in. All the while, Celine was right beside him staring in absolute smitten fascination of the child.

The queen's vitals were all stable, there was nothing wrong with her. She was carefully moved into a wheelchair and rolled into a recovery room. The four adult Warriors followed. Celine looked up from Serena and saw her sisters-in-arms starting to leave her behind.

"Hey! Wait," she called softly, and started after them.

"Stay with the child," Isabel instructed over her shoulder. "That little life can't do a thing to defend herself yet. Four of us should be sufficient to look after Her Majesty."

"…Uh, yes, of course, Captain," Celine replied timidly.

She turned back to the medical staff as she set the princess in a plain little crib on wheels and pushed her into the neo-natal room.

"Goodnight, little one," Chiron bade Serena as a nurse took her.

Then he went to follow after his wife, leaving Celine to watch the child as the nurses tended to her.

* * *

"Just as I feared. They lied in wait for me to leave," Myddin thought.

He leaned back from the floating tabletop in the royal observatory. It displayed a holographic image of the map of the British Isles. Its West bank had several flashing red lights along it, denoting the presence of dark energies, as did the Isle of Man.

"Bother and confusticate it all!" he muttered in frustration. "I should never have left so soon. I must return as soon as possible."

Then he swiped his hand over the corner of the table to his left and a glyph appeared, displaying a menu of options. He pressed the one marked "Power Down" in their language and the hologram faded before the floating table sank back into its relief in the floor. Then, as Myddin was about to leave, the door into the observatory opened.

The old man turned towards his visitor, and then smiled at the familiar face.

"Ah, the Chief Librarian! Pious Hirsch, was it?" he said pleasantly.

"The same," the man said, smoothing his shaggy hear full of hair out his eyes. "I just came to report to you that the Princess has been born, and…"

Pious eyed the device Myddin stood by.

"And I was to report that the Dark Kingdom has made another attack on Camelot, but I can see you already know that. I take it you also know that they attacked from the Isle of Man."

"Yes," Myddin answered. "And they've occupied the west bank. Morgan la Fey's ambitions remain the same no matter how many centuries pass."

"Shall I have the transport station readied for you?" Pious asked.

"Yes, within the hour," Myddin replied.

Pious blinked.

"Within the hour?" he asked.

Myddin chuckled, clapping his hands together.

"Well, I was invited back up here to welcome the princess into the world. It would be rude if I didn't at least say hello to her before I left," he said.

Then he went to over the door to leave the room.

"Bu-but, your mission down on Earth?!" Pious sputtered.

"Oh, fear not," Myddin waved off his concerns as he walked past. "I shall tend to it before the night is done."

"But-ah!" Pious whirled around and followed after him, continuing to jitter nervously. "Is that al-alright?! I mean, they've been invaded, and we have no idea what will happen if the Pendragon line fails. We could lose track of the Golden Blade again!"

"A risk, certainly, if I delayed my return any longer than I am," Myddin replied.

"Ah-ah-ah-w-well…" Pious sputtered.

"Now, now, my good man," Myddin stopped and patted the other man on the shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "You must learn to relax and just trust. Keep yourself bundled up so nervously and your hair will begin to fall out."

Pious began to laugh at the comment, but then paused, and reached up, running his hand through his dark curly locks.

"Really?" he asked weakly.

* * *

Outside the border of the Moon Kingdom, in the cold dark subzero vacuum of space, all was quiet on the surface of the moon. To the rare person standing outside of the dome's protection, the kingdom would not have been unlike a colossal shining snow globe atop the barren landscape. Inside, there was plant-life, cities, animals, and people in stark contrast to the emptiness outside.

The only thing interrupting the stagnant calm was a single convoy of vehicles rolling across the powdery surface of the moon. They were linked together like a train, but there were no tracks. They rolled on large, heavy-duty tires. The front was driven by a man and his co-driver while the cars behind were all filled with mined materials. A couple of workers patrolled the exterior of the cars wearing spacesuits inspecting the exterior for any faults.

Inside, everyone also wore the spacesuits, but their helmets were off, though had them on hand in a moment's notice if anything went wrong.

"There she is," the driver muttered.

They had just come to the top of a hill and the kingdom was in full view now. And sitting at the top of a high bluff at the center was the palace like a beacon for all to see.

"Wow," the assistant driver said in awe. Then she smirked and looked over at the primary sitting at the wheel. "Do you ever get used to seeing it like that?"

"Yes, but it never stops being like a guiding light leading you home," the main driver said.

The secondary laughed and was about to say something when the dashboard briefly lit up red. Her eyes looked to the alarm that had only momentarily sounded, and was now quiet. The now dormant light was for detecting any life-forms on the unprotected moon surface.

"What was that?" the secondary driver asked and input a command to do a scan on the console.

The primary glanced over in confusion and then looked around, slowly looking over the landscape, but saw nothing.

"That alarm goes off anytime we detect some damn fool that's come out here," he said. "But I don't see anyone."

"Could they have died?" the secondary asked.

"No, it'd still be detecting them once it's pinpointed them," the primary responded.

"Well, it says the life-form was in Sector 12. Do you want to divert course and check it out? I mean, someone could be in trouble."

"Negative," the primary driver said. "We're the only people given clearance to be outside The Dome. Anyone fool enough to slip past the border to come out here can fend for themselves. We'll just have it checked out for a malfunction when we get back."

"Shouldn't we at least tell the border guards about it?"

The primary driver rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Radio ahead and let them sort it out," he answered.

As the convoy passed by, a dark figure watched them from the shadows, undetected by their equipment. The being then looked past them at the Moon Kingdom, eyes hungry for the power lying within. Then it vanished from its hiding spot, moving towards the mighty empire.

* * *

"So you've got your father's hair, then?"

Celine smiled down at the now sleeping baby in her crib.

"But you definitely got your mother's clear blue eyes. Well, sleep tight, little one," she said.

Celine turned away from the crib, which was in the middle of the room and stood vigil at the window, staring out at the surrounding city. The nursery door was shut, so she'd hear it when anyone entered the room.

"Adorable little thing, isn't she?"

Or so she'd thought. Celine spun around to see Myddin, who had just entered the nursery without a sound. The old man already stood over to the crib and peered down at the sleeping form of the girl. She narrowed her eyes at him, cursing him to the depths for his mysterious ways. Then she composed herself and spoke with perfect politeness.

Serena moved around in her sleep, into a more comfortable position. She was already dressed in a little light-gray single piece set of pajamas and drooled a little as she slept.

"She cried _a lot_ at first," Celine told him. "It's the first time she's been this peaceful."

"I can imagine. Birth is a dramatic process, for both the infant and the mother," Myddin said.

He crouched down on one knee next to the crib to get a better look at the babe. He brushed one of her blonde locks out of her sleeping face to get a good look at her.

"Breathing without needing aid already?" he muttered in astonishment. "Already outside of a sterile environment, too. Perfectly healthy in every way. Not bad for arriving a few weeks prematurely."

"Yes, it's actually uncanny," Celine agreed. "I suspect that it might have something to do with her mother's constant close proximity to the Silver Crystal. Its purifying energy must have had a very position effect on the babe."

"Yes, that would make sense," Myddin muttered. "The royal heirs have historically tended to be very healthy upon arrival, but even this is a little much."

The old man then smiled warmly down at Serena. He stroked her cheek once with the back of his hand, and was then suddenly hit with a vision. It was too quick for him to make anything out, but it was enough to tell one thing.

"This child has the touch of destiny upon her," he murmured.

"Pardon?" Celine asked, turning away from the window again.

Myddin looked up at her.

"I said, this little one has the touch of destiny upon her."

Celine could only smile in humor at that.

"I would hope so. She stands to inherit an empire and an unimaginable power from her mother one day," she chuckled.

"No, it's more than that," Myddin replied, straightening up. He looked down at Serena once more, deep in his thoughts. "I just got the feeling that… how shall I say it… that change is in the air when I touched her cheek just now."

"Change?" Celine said, fully facing him now.

"Yes. Change. For good or ill, I don't know, but I can expect the future to be quite eventful," he answered.

Celine could only quirk a brow at the old man. He always spoke in riddles like this. There were times she swore he carried his habits of being willfully vague with the Earthlings back home with him.

* * *

"Where's Serena?"

"Asleep in her room. Worry not, my love. Celine watches over her as we speak."

"Does she now? Well, no better babysitter than the eldest daughter out of four sisters," Serenity said tiredly.

She yawned, closing her eyes. The bed may not have been her own, which was all the way upstairs in the East Wing, but it was still comfortable enough.

"I don't look forward to tomorrow," she said.

"What? The ball?" Chiron asked.

"Yes. All those distant relatives who never stop in unless it's something like this to keep up appearances, or nobles who honestly couldn't care less except to stay in my good graces," she answered with exhaustion. "And yet we have to hold a grand banquet, feed them, let them consume all our best alcohol, and have to listen to their boring conversations."

"Comes with being royal, unfortunately, my love," Chiron answered with sympathy. "But I understand entirely."

He leaned in closer to her bedside, clearing his throat.

"If you're still feeling exhausted tomorrow, I can handle everything," he offered. "We can even postpone the whole thing."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I am the Queen. I have to make an appearance at our girl's first appearance to the public."

"You're the Queen. You could make the kingdom wait until you're ready," Chiron offered.

Serenity snorted at that.

"No, I will be no tyrant that sets everything to her own convenience. It is the custom for the new heir to be presented as soon as possible. The doctor's told me Serena is healthy, so she can be shown to the nobles and press tomorrow night. As long as I'm able to sit down when I need, I should be fine," she replied.

"As you wish," Chiron said. He mulled over his words for a moment, and then added: "But the instant you need to retire for the night, I will happily take it upon myself to host the remainder of the evening."

"You take too good care of me, love," Serenity said softly. "It won't do well for the Queen to be coddled by her husband."

"And it won't do well for the husband to not be supportive any way he can," Chiron replied. "I worry, that's all."

"Of course you do," Serenity smiled. "No need to fret, though. I am well."

"Let us keep that way, then," Chiron replied, squeezing her hand.

Not far off, the four Warriors were conversing among themselves as well.

"Mercury. Report," Mars ordered.

"I just got off the line with the guards, and the area is clear. No one's tried to break in and my handheld computer detects no life readings that aren't supposed to be here," Mercury reported, flicking her earpiece off.

"Excellent," Mars replied, but all the same took her bow from her shoulder. "Do another sweep every half-hour. We can't be too careful with the Dark Kingdom on the prowl again."

"You really think they'll dare try to enter our lands again?" Jupiter asked.

"There is nothing those maniacs won't try," Mars said insistently. "Jupiter, Mercury, watch Her Majesty. Venus, you're with me. We'll patrol the grounds again."

Venus raised her brow.

"Any particular reason why?" the short-haired blonde asked. "Mercury just confirmed the grounds are clear."

"Yes, but it never hurts to be sure, especially on a night like this. And I prefer to see with my own eyes instead of relying on technology, even Mercury's," Mars replied.

Venus nodded and saluted.

"Very well, Captain," she said.

* * *

"I have returned, Captain," the guardsman announced.

"You relayed our message about The Dark Kingdom activity down on the planet surface?"

"Yes, Captain Kratos. Lord Chiron said Myddin will be informed at first opportunity," the guard replied.

"Good. You are dismissed," Kratos replied.

"Yes, sir," the guard saluted and returned to make his rounds.

Kratos crossed his arms and walked to the edge of the palace parapet where he and his Vice-Captain, Alke, stood overlooking the whole of the grounds from above.

"Vice-Captain Alke," Kratos said.

"Yes, sir!" the short-haired brunette officer replied with a salute.

"Have everyone report in," he ordered.

"Yes, Captain," she responded, and pressed the button to turn on her earpiece.

"All rear yard guards, this is Vice-Captain Alke. Report," she said sternly.

"This is Guardswoman Honos, reporting at the south gate. The other guards and I have completed this patrol of the palace's backyard. It is the stroke of midnight and all is clear," a woman with all bluish hair said into her earpiece.

"Guardsman Enyalius responding," a deep male voice also crackled. "Guardswoman Alala and I patrol the south wall and all is clear."

"Vice-Captain, do you read us?" Honos replied.

"Affirmative," Alke answered. "Your reports have been received and noted. Continue your patrols."

"Yes, ma'am!" all replied.

Alke switched frequencies to the guards in one of the side yards.

"All guards, this Vice-Captain Alke," she said. "Report in. Guardsman Perses, have you finished your rounds of the west yard?"

There was no response. Kratos' eyes were drawn to the yard from which silence had answered them immediately.

"Guardsman Perses, report!" Alke ordered.

Silence still answered her. Kratos' arms had fallen to his side and he was undoing the strap holding his mace to his belt.

"Guardsman Homados," Alke called for a different member of the Guard. "Homados… Report! Ioke! Keres! Nike! Someone, report in! Anyone!"

She and Kratos exchanged looks of concern. They knew what the dead silence meant. Kratos nodded his head and Alke obeyed the wordless order by pushing a red button on her belt. That activated the alarm, which blared all throughout the palace, both inside and out.

* * *

Celine and Myddin both whirled around as the sound burst in from the hallway. Serena awakened, crying again, from being rudely dragged from her slumber by the wretched sound.

"We're under attack?! Now?!" Celine exclaimed.

She turned to Serena, but Myddin had already scooped the child up in his arms. He turned his gaze to her the Warrior tensely.

"Go, Celine! Join the others!" he ordered, gently holding the baby. "I will protect Serena."

Celine nodded and raced out of the room, almost barreling over a couple of maids who'd ran in to collect Serena.

* * *

"Your Majesties!" Mars shouted as she and Venus burst into the recovery room.

"We're here," Chiron answered, standing at the foot of the bed his wife rested in with his sword drawn.

Serenity was sitting up with the help of Jupiter and a nurse.

"What's going on?" Serenity asked, raising her still throaty voice.

"We don't know yet," Mars answered. "The alarm went off, so we ran back here quick as our feet would carry us."

"I have an answer for that," Mercury replied, flicking her earpiece off. She stood near a window, looking out. "I just got off the line with Vice-Captain Alke. The guards in the side yard didn't report in."

"What?!" Mars cried. "But they're all elite guards out there! How come someone take them out without our…?!"

BOOM!

There was an explosion elsewhere in the palace which violently shook the entire building before Mars could finish. Dust and light debris hell from the ceiling as the whole structure quaked hard enough to knock everyone off their feet. Serenity cried out as the bed was banged around with the nurse being thrown to the side entirely and Jupiter falling onto the mattress beside her.

"Serenity!" Chiron cried.

He leapt onto the bed and positioned himself between anything that fell from the ceiling and his wife. He clenched his teeth as chunks of the ceiling and wood hit his back, but he stayed vigilante on his hands and knees over her.

"Chiron?" Serenity whispered in concern.

"I'm alright," he answered, straining from the pain.

* * *

"Ack!" Celine cried as the quake threw her off her balance, causing to her fall down the remainder of the carpeted stairwell.

She landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom step, letting out a pained groan.

"Ugggggh… what was that?" she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to deal with the pain.

* * *

The maids screamed as the archway collapsed and the stones fell towards them. But then the objects just stopped in midair. The two stared in amazement for a moment before their eyes slowly strayed to Myddin, who stood still holding the baby with his eyes shut in quiet meditation. A protective bubble he had cast was stopping them all from being crushed.

Then he opened his eyes and started to walk out from under the ceased rubble. The maids quickly followed him to safety.

* * *

"What by the Earth's shadow?!" Chiron cried, painfully climbing off the bed.

"Hold still, Milord," the maid said, picking the debris out of his back.

Mars, Venus, and Mercury all moaned painfully as they tried to pick themselves up whilst all in the middle of a daze. When she was able to focus, Venus looked to her queen and stood using the bedframe to steady herself.

"Can you stand, Your Majesty?" Venus asked Serenity. She turned to Mars. "If we can move her, I'd like to get Her Majesty into the Silver Sanctum where she'll be protected by the Crystal."

"Good thinking," Mars concurred. She turned to the others. "Everyone to get ready to move."

Serenity sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed. She tried to stand, but her legs would only shakily support her weight for a moment and she was forced to sink back onto the bed. Venus gently grabbed her around the shoulders and under an arm.

"I-I don't think I can," Serenity answered faintly.

"You would have the Queen of the Moon run like a mouse before the cat?!" Chiron demanded, obviously insulted.

"We don't have a choice, Milord," Venus replied. "She's weak from the birth, and we have no idea what we're dealing with."

"They're right, Chiron," Serenity put in. "But what about Serena? Where's my baby?!"

" _Fear not, dear Serenity."_

Serenity gasped and nearly jumped into Venus' arms at Myddin's sudden telepathic message.

"M-Myddin?!" she sputtered, grabbing hold of one of Venus' arms. The Warrior just looked at her in confusion. "You speak in my mind?"

Chiron looked to his wife intently, having heard that last comment.

" _Yes, my Queen,"_ Myddin replied. _"I have Serena. Two maids and myself are heading towards the bunker under the cellar. Celine has gone on ahead and should be reaching you soon. I will protect your child with my life. Now concern yourself with preserving your own, please."_

"Sere?" Chiron asked. "Sere, what is it? What did Myddin say in his message?"

"He's protecting Serena. Celine's coming! We have to meet up with her and then get moving, before the intruder gets here!"

"Right!" Mars said, climbing to her feet. "Venus and I will get Her Majesty to her feet. Mercury, do a scan of the castle to locate where the structure was struck and where the intruders are!"

"Already on it," Mercury replied. She had already taken out here mini-comp and headset, and was putting both to use. "A hole has been punched in the west wall, and…"

She trailed off, looking grim. She swallowed before turning to her comrades.

"Life readings of the guards patrolling the interior are going out in rapid succession. The pattern indicates the source is coming right for us. If we try to leave through any of the main halls, we'll encounter whoever it is before we can secure Her Majesty."

"No time to lose…" Mars said as she bolted to Serenity's other side.

Together, she and Venus helped Serenity to her feet, supporting her under the arms. The sounds of steel footfalls from out in the gall echoed in and a moment later, Warrior Moon dashed into the room, skidding to a stop before bumping into anyone.

"My Queen!" Moon shouted, gasping for air. "I-I…"

"We know," Mars said. "Catch your breath quickly. We're moving out right now."

She turned to Jupiter, and nodded towards the back door of the recovery room.

"Jupiter, would you be a darling and do the honors?"

"Certainly," Jupiter replied.

With that, she raised both hands into the air, channeling electricity into them before closing them into fists and aiming them at the back wall. She discharged two bolts from them, blasting a big hole in it.

"What are you doing?!" Chiron demanded.

"We'll leave through the service hall," Mars replied.

"…just get out the palace or out of sight," Mercury finished saying into her earpiece.

She flicked it off and turned to Mars.

"I just got off the line with anyone I could still reach. The readings for this thing that's entered the palace is off the charts. The dark aura surrounding it, whatever _it_ is, is very powerful."

"Understood," Mars replied, and then nodded to Jupiter again.

Jupiter outstretched both hands in front and then parted them, moving the debris aside as well. Chiron ran over to Serenity and her supports, sheathing his sword.

"In that case, let me take her," he said, holding out his hands to pick her up.

Mars and Venus relinquished their queen without a word and Chiron carried her up bridal-style.

"Let's move," he said.

"There's no one in the service halls," Mercury reported. "The invading life force is moving through the main part of the castle still, and… Oh, Great Mother, all the life signals in the west side of the palace, including the servants, have flat-lined!"

"Oh, those poor people…" Serenity whimpered.

Chiron gulped down his courage and then hastily rushed through the opening Jupiter had created, bearing his wife to safety while the Warriors trailed behind them. Jupiter and Moon ran in after them first, then Venus, and then finally Mars and Mercury trailing behind with their elements at the ready. A fire arrow was notched at the door, as were ice spears, as the two backed through the hole.

They rounded a corner to the left and ran through a corridor of doors, rushing towards the one at the end, which led to the servant's quarters and entrance.

"Mercury, try one more time to instruct anyone still alive to evacuate the palace immediately," Chiron ordered. "The hostile holds no regard for life."

"Already on it, Milord," Mercury replied.

"Good," Chiron said, slowing to a stop by the door.

Celine opened the door for them and the rulers quickly passed through. They stepped into a small junction leading to the bedrooms, living quarters, bathing areas, and the entryway for the servants. There was no one in sight, due to the alarm and Mercury's instructions as the Warriors filed in behind the Queen and Lord.

Mars walked on ahead, checking out each room with her sharp eyes, but detected nothing dangerous within any of them. Meanwhile, Mercury checked the location of the dark presence invading the palace once more.

"Alright," Mars said, turning to her lieges. "The door's just this way, we can leave now."

"But what about Serena?" Chiron asked, gravely. "We can't just leave without her."

"Chiron…" Serenity said, looking up at him.

She reached up and gently grabbed his chin, pulling his face to look down at her.

"Trust Myddin. It's not her this enemy's come for, anyway. This being knows I'm weak from the birth. It's after _us,_ " she said.

"How did this creature even get into the kingdom without notice?" Venus asked. "The Sentries who patrol our protective dome should have detected her coming."

"The enemy didn't enter physically. I'm detecting a recent dimensional flux in the palace sideyard," Mercury said, tapping away at her mini-comp. "They teleported in somehow without our scanners and Mystics noticing. This enemy is very skilled."

Mercury looked down at the screen again and froze.

"What it is?" Mars asked.

"I… the enemy's aura is… gone…"

"…What?" every else asked.

* * *

"Alright, into the bunker with little Serena," the maid said, motioning for her younger coworker to go in.

The other maid, a ravenette who looked to be in her twenties carried Serena inside, past the thick vault door. Myddin stood back, watching their backs. The older maid then turned to him to usher him in, but his eyes were off in the distance, seeing something that could not be seen.

"Master Myddin, get in! Hurry!" the older maid urged.

Myddin came out of his trance and looked at her.

"No, I think I'm needed out here. You go on ahead. Princess Serena will be fine with the both of you. I must go to Her Majesty," he answered gravely.

"What are…?" the older maid started to ask, but then right before her very eyes, he was gone.

"I hate it when he does that," she huffed.

* * *

"It's gone?!" Mars cried, half in anger. She stormed over to Mercury ready to the shake woman. "Gone?! How can something powerful enough to bust through our barrier be able to vanish your mini-computer's tracking? It's the single most advanced piece of tech we have!"

"Isabel, please…" Celine begged, trying to calm her down.

"Do not…!" Isabel started to shout, whipping around towards the teen, and then stopped dead, the color draining from her face.

In fact, everyone had frozen in place staring not at Celine, but at the dark corner right behind her. Something black stood right in their midst, deadly quiet. Off to the side, Mars heard Mercury's mini-comp 'ping' again, and knew the invading force had found its way right to them.

Celine saw everyone's stunned expressions, and started to around to look behind. When she did, the dark figure made its move, and so did Mars. Her movements were automatic. She lunged forward, fire arrow drawn. She shoulder-checked Celine to the side right before the dark entity could harm her and fired right into the beast's face. The beast didn't even blink or miss a beat, and Mars was thrown across the room into the opposite wall be its sheer willpower alone.

Ice arrows, lightning, and crescent energy blasts followed from the other three adults Warriors immediately, but none of them seemed to do anything to the figure in the corner. Celine rolled over and stared in astonishment at the thing that'd been behind her.

As soon as the Warriors' onslaught ceased, the thing stomped its foot sending out a shockwave that knocked nearly everyone over. Chiron managed to stay on his feet and keep his wife steady by allowing himself to fall to one knee. Serenity yelped from the sudden, jerking motion.

"Who are you?! Identify yourself!" Chiron demanded.

"You know who I am," the black figure said, stepping into the light. Serenity's eyes widened as she began to recognize the person. "You were going to just leave the party before I could arrive? Tsk tsk. How rude of you, Serenity."

"Nehellenia!" Serenity gasped. "What's happened to you?!"

Mars' head jerked up at the mention of that name. She was already crouched and ready to fight again, but was paused in awe of this audacious and powerful new opponent.

"The witch of the Dead Moon!" she breathed.

Nehellenia chuckled and eyed Mars in the corner of her eye.

"I see my reputation precedes me," she said with another laugh.

Then Nehellenia raised both hands, with their long, gnarled fingers like claws. Between her matted gray hairs, dry almost mummy-like skin and gaunt figure, she was not the beauty she was once. Power emanated from her, and they knew she was about to strike. The five Warriors moved as one to intercept and avoid being knocked back again. Then it happened.

Something almost like black flames struck the side of the witch, hurling her across the room and into a wall. All eyes snapped to the newcomer who had just come to them.

"Myddin!" Chiron and Serenity both shouted.

The old wizard at first stood at the end of the hall with a magic wand pointed where Nehellenia just stood. Then he dissolved into dust and flew across the room and reformed standing protectively in front of his Queen and Lord.

"To the Silver Sanctum!" Chiron shouted, having made up his mind to follow his wife and her Warriors' lead.

He turned and ran to the servant's entrance of the castle with Myddin backing up after them.

"A wise decision, Lord Chiron!" Myddin said over his shoulder as he followed them, his wand trained on the glaring witch the whole time.

The Warriors quickly regrouped, forming a rank between the retreating royalty and the invader. Nehellenia slowly rose to her feet as Chiron, Serenity, and Myddin vanished through the exit, staring hatefully after them before turning her ire on the Warriors. She knew she wouldn't be able to take them so easily now. After the initial display of her power, they were weary now to her tricks and knew what to expect. They were ready now, and she could see it.

"And yet I have no time to bother with them," the witch thought.

She attempted the same spell Myddin had and dissolved to particles. Her scattered form flew forward trying to get past the Warriors. However, with a couple of plucks of Mercury's strings, the pieces of Nehellenia were incased in ice and dropped to the ground. The Warriors took a step forward, but the ice burst and a re-materialized Nehellenia stood up.

"Tricksy Warriors…" she uttered.

* * *

Chiron, with Serenity in his arms, rounded the corner taking them into the backyard of the palace. The Silver Sanctum was in sight down a short cobblestone path leading right out from main rear entrance. Myddin was mere paces behind them the whole way despite his age. The wizard took one more look over his shoulders to make sure Nehellenia wasn't hot on their heels. Kratos and dozen guards burst out from the main rear exit of the palace and ran over to them.

"Your Majesties!" Kratos shouted, bowing his head and thumping his chest with his hand fist in salute without stopping. "We're here! Sorry we could not intercept the intruder earlier. We couldn't locate it. Vice Captain Alke is still trying to get a solid reading from the control room. As for us, we could only follow the trail of corpses!"

"It's alright," Chiron answered. "Just cover us."

"Yes, Milord!" the palace guard replied, and filed in behind them.

With that, Chiron made a mad dash for the Silver Sanctum. Myddin continued to keep up with them.

"I must say, Myddin," Chiron said between breaths while he ran. "I was almost expecting you to shout "You shall not pass" and be the one to cover everyone else's escape, like the time in that cave with the smoke monster."

"Oh, Heavens, no!" Myddin shuddered. "Never again! I do believe I've fought one too many demons in my time as it is. And it was in a mine, actually, against a fire demon called a Balrog."

"You've only fought one," Serenity pointed out.

"Yes, and that is my point, Your Majesty," Myddin replied.

Chiron slowed when he reached the hewn stones out front of the sanctum. The small building was akin to a mausoleum, though with the trappings of a Greek temple. A pair of small pillars held up the overhanging roof above the white double doors of the sanctum. The door itself was made of a metal not found on Earth. Adorning it was the symbol of the crescent that took up both doors.

"Can you walk?" Chiron asked, knowing only Serenity could enter that sacred place.

"Yes… put me down," Serenity answered quietly.

Her husband stooped, lowering her feet to the ground, and then stood again, taking her by the shoulders. Serenity wobbled on her feet once, but stayed balanced and kept strength in her legs by sheer force of will. She stumbled forward and walked unsteadily away from her husband until she reached the doors of the sanctum.

"If the knocker be worthy, then open O great doors of the Silver Sanctum," Serenity chanted, and then knocked four times.

The knobless and ringless doors creaked open, allowing the Queen and master of the Silver Crystal to enter the sanctuary. Serenity passed through, using one of the doors to steady herself, and once she had vanished from view, they closed one behind her.

"Now we just hope she has the strength to use it, or else this will have been for naught," Myddin murmured.

"How did Nehellenia get past our sensors and barrier, anyway?" Chiron rasped angrily, drawing his sword out again.

He turned to face the direction the witch would come from if she got past the Warriors.

"If we live through this, there will be The Devil to pay for our border watch's incompetence," he said.

* * *

"Tell me, foolish Warriors," Nehellenia asked them in her aged voice. "Do you really think you can protect her?"

"Yes. With our lives," Mars answered, the fire of her arrow turning blue.

Nehellnia smiled, displaying yellowed, cracked, or missing teeth.

"So be it, then. Mighty Celestial Warriors of the Sol System," she said mockingly.

"Are you sure you're Nehellenia?" Mercury suddenly asked.

"What?" Nehellenia responded, ceasing her assault for a moment.

Mercury simply smirked back.

"I'd heard that Queen Nehellenia's beauty was unparalleled. Am I really to believe this hag before me is the same woman?" the Warrior spoke with thinly-disguised mocking.

Nehellenia gritted her teeth in fury and the whole room grew darker as her wrath boiled over. She screamed at Mercury, out-stretching one arm focusing a blast of dark energy fire at her. In her haste to murder the woman who had insulted her, she failed to notice her shield flicker unstably.

"Now!" Mars shouted.

As one, she, Moon, Jupiter, and Venus fired on a single point on the dark queen's weakened energy field, breaking through. Then with a single pluck of the string, Mercury fired everything she had through the briefly opened hole. The dark energy exploded without guidance as Nehellenia was impaled by many ice-spears and stuck to the wall. Mercury smirked again as the others relaxed.

"I've also heard of her legendary vanity," she quipped.

However, her comrades didn't let down their guard, feeling this had been too easy. When her hand twitched, it confirmed their fears and they opened fire again, but Nehellenia vanished leaving just the ice-spikes imbedded in the wall. Their blasts hit the wall, burning it and blasting off chunks.

"Damn!" Jupiter cried as they all began to look around.

"Over there!" Celine cried.

Everyone turned and looked behind them, as Nehellenia had returned behind them. Warrior Moon dove between her sisters, spinning the blades of the butterfly sword, generating the energy to produce a protective field. It'd come none too soon as the witch had already cast a spell in multiple black energy bolts. They hit Celine's shield, slamming into it with enough force to send the girl sliding and rolling across the floor. Her sisters-in-arms didn't hesitate to take advantage of the moment she'd bought them.

"ARROW VOLLEY!" Mars shouted.

Several fiery darts were launched at Nehellenia at once as she laid down some suppressing fire, forcing the witch to cast a shield to protect herself. With her other hand, the witch fired on Mars, but it was intercepted by Venus' chain. With the attacked deflected, Jupiter and Mercury made their move.

"What the…? GUUUUGKKKK!" Nehellenia sputtered as water erupted from underneath and covered her completely.

In the split second diversion this created, Jupiter fired and maintained a single, powerful bolt of lightning straight into the suspended water Mercury had erected over Nehellenia. The witch convulsed and twisted around inside as the electricity coursed through her system. At once, Mercury and Jupiter dropped their attack. Moon's blades were already as she took a couple of running steps forward and threw it like a spear.

"MOON SPIRALING BLADE FINISHER!" she shouted.

The butterfly sword spiraled as it flew through the air, turning its energy into a volatile vortex of energy that seemed like a series of glimmering spikes bursting from the weapon surrounding shining particles. It tore through Nehellenia's center, tearing at her flesh like a giant industrial drill. Within a second, the witch's body was reduced to mere ribbons that burned into fluttering blackened tatters.

Mars wasted no time and leapt in, hands ablaze. She unleashed a small wall of flame which consumed the tattered pieces of the Dead Moon witch down to ash, which fell to the floor. A bit of the ash wafted into her nose, causing Mars to sneeze.

Then they all stood perfectly still, waiting and listening for any sign that Nehellenia had somehow survived being completely eviscerated. Moon caught her sword as it returned to her sluggishly and almost stumbled from the additional weight. She was caked in sweat and gasping for air, as it had taken a lot out of her to cast her finishing attack.

Mars let out a breath, and then clicked her heels before turning on them to face Moon. She stared crossly right at the young Warrior, who was taken aback by this new turn. Their youngest took a small step back.

"What? What did I do wrong?" Moon asked.

"That was very dangerous, Celine. You're not ready to use your gear's most difficult and complex attack in a real battle yet!" Mars scolded her.

"I most certainly am! I just did it, didn't I!" Warrior Moon argued.

"Yes, you did, and I'm very proud of you for it," Mars replied.

"Well, I… What?" Moon was shocked again.

Mars placed her hand on Moon's shoulder, and squeezed.

"It's my place to scold you when you act rashly," she told her almost tenderly. "And to congratulate you on a job well-done. However, please don't use techniques that take the most out of you right from the beginning next time."

"Yes, Captain," Moon replied.

"And now we nee…" Mars started to speak again, but stopped.

Everyone turned to her at the pause, wondering what it was about. Mars just stood frozen, staring off into space. Moon furrowed her brows.

"Mars?" she asked.

"Moo-oon, I…" Mars said in a strained voice, and her body convulsed.

Her hand fell from Moon's shoulder as she grabbed at her chest and stomach. Then she began coughing and hacking like she was about to puke.

"Ce-Cel… Call…" she moaned as drooled thick, sickly saliva.

Then she wheezed as if being deprived of air and tore her throat before her whole body seizured.

"Isabel!" Jupiter and Venus cried as they ran to her said and steadied her before she could fall over.

No sooner did they grab did she vomit out a stream of blood, which splattered all over the floor and some onto Moon's boots, making the girl cry out in shock. Mercury ran around to Mars' front, having already started a scan of their Captain's body. The min-comp was clipped into place on her belt freeing up both her hands. She lifted Mars' face to her own and began feeling around her neck to try identifying the problem.

"Captain, what's wrong?! What's happening to you?!" Moon cried, taking off her mask.

Then Mars doubled over, puking up more red bile onto Mercury's boots.

"Mercury!" Jupiter shouted. "What is happening?!"

"I don't' know," Mercury answered, choosing to ignore vomit on her boots.

Her mini-comp buzzed, indicating it had finished the scan. She took it back out and looked at the screen. Then she just froze in shock as Mars began a new cycle of retching.

"Mercury?!" Jupiter cried, trying to steady their quaking Captain.

"Mercury!" Venus then also shouted.

Both Warriors were knocked back when Mars suddenly snapped upright with a shrieking death-knell, throwing up her head and arms. By now, blood was oozing from every orifice in her head and filled her eyes. Mercury visibly paled while Moon choked, feeling nauseous. Then the front of her chest-plate began rattling as if something alive was behind it. Before either Mercury or Moon could react, the thing slammed into the inside of Mars' plate armor, sending it flying into Mercury's face, knocking the Warrior to the ground.

As Jupiter and Venus climbed back to their feet, Moon stood frozen as she got a full view of the thing in Mars' clothes.

"Celine, what is it?" Jupiter asked.

Only Warrior Moon couldn't answer. She could only stare in horror at the fact the thing wasn't in Mars' clothes. It was a pair of hands that had punched out through her skin from the inside. Then the hands grabbed as Mars' flesh and rips, tearing open a big hole with ease like it was ripping cardboard. Nehellenia's blood-soaked head and upper torso burst from the gaping hole, spewing her blood everywhere. Mars' head and arms hung limply, and yet the body remained standing as if she was now a mere suit of flesh and bone.

Then in the instance everyone was too horrorstruck to react, she spun around only half-out of her Mars "suit" and slashed Jupiter and Venus' throats with her claw-like fingernails. Their eyes bulged as they became aware of their morality and clutched her the gaping wounds in their windpipes and jugulars before loosing strength in their knees and falling to the ground. Moon's features twisted in horror and she screamed, backing away. The witch slid all the way out of Mars as if allowing a strapless dress to fall from her body. Mars' body slid down to the ground in an unnatural fashion that made it clear her lower half was missing its bones. The once Warrior lied lifelessly to the floor, exposing the naked, blood-soaked hag, fully reformed.

Then she turned to Moon and Mercury and fired on them. By then Moon had recovered enough to charge forward, raising her weapon. Nehellenia's psychic blast slammed into the double-sword and sent Moon flying backwards again, into Mercury.

The two Warriors tumbled in a tangle of limbs across the floor. Nehellenia sneered and cackled at them before levitating up off the floor. She flew at them, stretching her arms out to her sides. Her fingernails grew into sharpened claws. Mercury saw her coming and did the first thing she could think of: she kicked Moon away and leapt up onto her knees. She swung her harp across in front, clashing with Nehellenia's claws.

However, the witch was quick to recover, and before Mercury could act again, she was grabbed and yanked up face-to-face with Nehellenia. Without hesitated, she drove her claws into Mercury's throat, and tore it out before tossing the dying Warrior to the side where she slammed into the wall.

Then she turned to the last one standing: Moon. The girl was on her back, up on her elbows, staring up at her with tear-stained and horrified eyes. Raw emotion flooded the girl's brain, and all she could do is sit there whimpering at this vile thing that killed her team.

"This will be as sweet as pie!" Nehellenia cackled, hovering over Moon.

Seeing the beast close jostled awake the self-preservation programmed into Warrior Moon's instincts, and the girl crawled backward, shaking and crying.

"N-n-n-NNOOOO!" she wailed.

Nehellenia shrieked like a vulture and lunged. Moon shut her eyes, squeezing them shut as she swung her sword, unleashing every bit of power she still possessed into an uncoordinated attack.

* * *

"How did Nehellenia get past our sensors and barrier, anyway?" Chiron rasped angrily, drawing his sword out again.

He turned to face the direction the witch would come from if she got past the Warriors.

"If we live through this, there will be The Devil to pay for our border watch's incompetence," he said.

"I think we've already been visited by the Devil, Milor…" Myddin started to reply.

A deafening blast went off inside the palace, accompanied by a miniature earthquake and all the back windows shattering. While the Palace Guard stumbled and murmured in fear, Kratos was an emotionless statue at staring towards the large structure. Though none of the glass reached them, several members of the guard still raised their shields.

"What by The Great Mother was that?!" Chiron cried, taking a step forward.

"I fear to ponder it," Myddin replied.

Then the double doors of the black entrance were blasted off their hinges and launched through the air, followed by junks of rubble and Warrior Moon all flying through the air. Moon was pounded into the stone walkway, and sent rolling and bouncing several yards while rock and hunks of furniture flew everywhere.

"Shields!" Kratos shouted.

He and all his men raised their shields as the rain of debris came down on them. Myddin jumped in front of Chiron, spreading his arms out wipe as his wand glowed. A shimmering white magic shield formed over them, which all of the falling rubble bounced off of. As the barrage ended and the dust settled, everyone slowly lowered their shields and turned their eyes to gaping door. Moon painfully rolled onto her side and stared up with exhausted and anxious eyes.

At the top of the steps stood the witch, still naked and caked in drying blood. The old hag leered down at them. Something hung from her left hand, which was at her side. Then in a red blur, she was down the steps and halfway across the yard to them. She darted and zigged about without ever moving a limb, gradually coming closer to them.

"That's close enough!" Kratos shouted, raising his ax.

To this, Nehellenia threw back her head and laughed. It was horrid, dry, throaty sound.

"Behold!" her cracking, hoarse voice called to them, traveling quite well to their ears despite how difficult it sounded for her to talk. "Your Celestial Guardian Warriors!"

She raised her arm, revealing what she was holding. Everyone either gasped or cried out at the sight of it.

"Great Mother of All…" Chiron rasped, paling.

It was the heads of Warrior Moon's fallen sisters. She gripped them by their hair, allowing the heads to swing freely back and forth.

"Isabel…" Warrior Moon whispered in horror.

Kratos stood silent and firm while his men shook and shuffled, visibly losing their nerve. Moon, staring up at the witch from where she lied on the ground, felt her eyes moistening up at she looked into the lifeless eyes of Isabel and the others.

"She's killed the Celestial Warriors! They're all dead!" one panicking guard cried.

"Steady!" Kratos barked.

"But they're all dead! Look!" one shrieked.

"Myddin, you've got to do something," Chiron whispered into the wizard's ear.

"At the right moment, Milord," Myddin replied, staring right where he was in front of the Queen's husband.

"You will maintain the line!" Kratos shouted sternly, glaring at his terrified subordinates.

Then he pointed his ax at Moon, who was up on one knee, holding herself steady with her butterfly sword.

"No, Nehellenia has not slain them all. Duchess Celine still lives!" Kratos said.

"The girl?!" Nehellenia again laughed. "This fearful little child is only alive because she ran from me! It's obvious to anyone she's never seen combat before. But these ones…"

She held out the heads in front.

"Is what became of those who stood against me. Here!"

Then she threw the heads at Kratos. He raised his shield and they bounced off it, making sickening thud noises as they did before hitting the ground and bouncing or rolling away. When he lowered his shield, Nehellenia had changed positions again, having moved several yards to the right in just the instant he was looking away. Then in short spurts, she zigzagged around the courtyard in demonstration of her ability. She stopped about twenty feet from Kratos.

"Now be like that girl whimpering on the sidelines, and… stand aside…" Nehellenia commanded. As she smiled, her cracked lips split in several places, revealing only a handful of grayed, remaining teeth. "None of you can stop me from entering the Silver Sanctum and taking the Silver Crystal for myself. Not even the Queen, today. She is exhausted and weak from delivering the brat."

Nehellenia threw up her arms in a shrug.

"You should have kept news of her pregnancy from getting out," she said, almost cordially. "It made it easy to predict when the right time to strike was. So…"

Nehellenia looked Kratos in the eye.

"What will it be, little man? Die for nothing, or embrace your new, eternal Queen?"

"Spearmen ready!" Kratos ordered his men in reply.

Despite their fear, they moved into their battle stances, holding their shields out in front and directed their short spears at the witch.

"Fools…" Nehellenia said, glowering.

Moon knew what was about to happen to these non-powered soldiers if she didn't do something, and forced herself to her feet. Nehellenia eyed her in her peripherals as the girl raised her sword and the blades ignited once more. Then she glanced past the Guard at Myddin, and wondered…

"Why hasn't the court wizard, Chief Advisor, and appointed planetside interloper not moved yet?"

"Anytime would be good now. I would rather not lose more lives tonight," Chiron leaned forward, whispering anxiously into Myddin's ear.

The old man held up a finger.

"Not yet…" he said.

"Attack!" Kratos ordered.

Then he let out a mighty battle-cry, and charged. He was followed by the rest of the Guard in rushing the witch. The spears were thrown, but they passed harmlessly through Nehellenia. It was as if they were thrown through dust. The Guard drew their swords as they ran. The witch mockingly laughed at them and pointed a gnarled finger at them, firing an invisible shot of psychic energy. It was aimed to behead Kratos, but before it could, Moon leapt into its path and deflected with her blades.

Nehellenia howled viciously at them, raised up both clawed hands, and slashed them down at the ground. The soil and hewnstones both exploded into a destruction wave of energy that rushed at Warrior Moon and the Guard. Kratos and his men slowed to a stop behind Moon. Having no time to dodge, they could only watch as Moon raised her blades in the air, which were glowing almost like the sun at this point, and she slammed one in the ground in front of her, discharging a counter wave that burst forward and broke the witch's attack. The two halves of Nehellenia's wave passed by them on both sides harmlessly before dying out.

Even as the Guard raised their shields to protect themselves from whatever did make it through, Nehellenia hissed at them and crouched like an animal about to pounce. She threw one arm up in the air, pulling trees from the soil and forcing rocks burst out from beneath the grass upon into the air. Then she swiped her arm forward, flinging _everything_ at them.

"Let's see her break this one apart," Nehellenia thought gleefully.

Moon gritted her teeth and thrust one of her blades straight forward, producing super sonic waves from it, which broke apart everything Nehellenia had thrown at them into harmless bits.

"Found your grit, I see," Nehellenia complemented Warrior Moon.

Moon could only swallow, but otherwise did not move. She stood firm, but it was a mask. Nearly all her energy was depleted from wasting too much of it back in the castle, starting with using the Moon Spiraling Blade Finisher. Kratos could see the sweat drip down the side of her face and knew what it meant.

"Have to go on the offensive," Moon, and readied herself.

She quick-stepped forward a step, paused as she poised herself, and then rushed the witch. Kratos' men started to pursue, but he held up his arm to stop them, knowing that swords were of no more use in this fight. Nehellenia hunkered down on all fours as Moon came at her, ready to respond. 20 feet… 15 feet… 10 feet…

Suddenly Moon felt the ground shift beneath and she instinctively jumped. She didn't stop to look, but the witnesses it was clear that if she'd been a second slower, the ground would have opened up and swallowed her. Moon flew through the air, spinning the glowing blades over her head. Nehellenia began slashing at the air, unleashing several shots of red energy that looked like bloody slash marked one each finger. The blasts separated and several flew at Moon from all directions while bore down on Kratos and his Guard. While the Warrior went into a spun in midair, twirling the blades and deflecting each and every one, the palace Guard raised they shields. While the Lunarian metal and protective runes blocked the attacks, they were all sent sliding backwards of the ground no matter how they tried to plant themselves.

Nehellenia was forced back as Moon landed right in front of her and then unleashed a powerful and large offensive blast. The witch's body scattered and then reformed right behind the Warrior. She gave Moon no time and was about to deal a killing blow when she felt something behind them.

Myddin had made his move. He had appeared in front of the Guard with his wand ready and aimed. Nehellenia prepared to block, only there was no visible blast _to_ block. With a wave of his wand, it felt like someone had just decked here right in the face.

"Ugh!" Nehellenia grunted as she staggered backwards, fresh blood, her own, dripping down her face.

Myddin's interference had given Moon the chance to turn around and strike. The sword cut through the witch like flame to wax. Nehellenia howled in rage and pain as the blade was plunged deep into her stomach and up towards her chest. Then the Warrior activated the power within the blade and unleashed an explosive blast inside Nehellenia. As the witch exploded, Moon was careful to turn her face away and not breathe in. Then she swept the blades over herself twice, generating a wave that blew off all the dusty remains of her opponent and then aimed a blade to blast them further away from everyone.

Myddin sighed in relief and started to walk towards Warrior Moon, but she held up a hand to stop him without looking away from the general direction where Nehellenia's particles had gone.

"Stop! She might not be dead!" Moon told him loudly. "We thought we had her before, but it was a trick, and she ended up using Mars' body to regenerate herself. Everyone, stay back!"

"Is that how she managed to kill Isabel, Callisto, Amphitrite, and Peitho?" Kratos asked.

Warrior Moon's shoulders went stiff as she instinctively lowered her head as the horrible memory returned. Chiron stepped up beside Kratos, looking all around carefully.

"Celine," Chiron asked. "Answer the question."

"We thought we had her," Moon obediently answered, scanning the area for Nehellenia. "But we wrong. Isabel breathed in a bit of Nehellenia's particles after we managed to incinerate her body before, and she just regrew inside her."

"Great Mother of All! That witch is an abomination!" a Guardswoman gasped as they each began to look at one another suspiciously.

"She could be inside any of us right now!" a Guardsman said, training his sword on one of his comrades.

"It is you?"

"What? No! Why would you even ask that?! …Unless its you."

"Stop it, all of you!" Kratos barked at his men sternly.

"But Captain…!"

Kratos held up his battle ax menacingly.

"Don't make me have to put any of you down for becoming a danger to your own brothers and sisters-in-arms," he warned.

Chiron took a step away from the Guard, still looking around the ruined remains of the castle backyard, but saw no sign of disturbance.

"Where is she?" he demanded. He turned to Myddin. "Wizard?"

"I don't know," Myddin said. His eyes were shut in concentration. "I can't sense her anymore in the air, but I can…"

Then the old man's eyes opened and bulged wide.

"She's beneath us!" he shouted.

"Wha…?"

Even as Chiron tried to speak, black thorny vines beyond count burst from the ground and grabbed everyone, except Myddin. The wizard had a shield of light around himself, keeping the tendrils away from himself, but Warrior Moon, Lord Chiron, and Guard were not so lucky. They cried out and tried to fight even as the vines grabbed them around their arms, legs, waists, and necks. Moon growled as she sliced away the first wave only other vines to sneak in, grabbing her arms.

"No!" she cried as they were forced to her sides.

The vines then wrapped around body, pinning her in place thoroughly.

"What the Devil?!" Chiron swore as he was similarly entangled.

The cries of the Guard and the growls of their captain filled the air as they were all ensnared. Some of the thorns were big enough to pierce them right through, but for whatever reason, Nehellenia refrained. The loops around her hostages' necks did not close, but rather remained open enough that the thorns pressed up against their jugulars as a warning.

Myddin looked around, noting the precarious positions of his friends and comrades.

"Nehellenia, show yourself," he commanded.

Her dry, choking laughter permeated the air as if from everywhere and nowhere. Then the sound of her heavy wheezing became centered somewhere to everyone's left. They looked and regretted it right away. If there was ever a visage of death to be beheld, it was the form the witch had been reduced to. Her reshaped body stood atop a large bramble protruding from the ground. She was now so thin as to be naught but a thin layer of dried, grayed cracking skin on bones, like a mummy freshly untombed. Bloodshot eyes leered at them as she grinned at them, or they supposed she was grinning at them. That could have just been the skeleton grin she no longer possessed the mass to mask. White, thin strands of hair billowed in the wind

"Are you giving me orders, dear Myddin? I don't think you understand the situation," Nehellenia asked, sounding like she had something sharp lodged in her throat.

She hopped down from the bramble with an animalistic grace and scuttled along the ground like a giant insect. Her body hung too close to the ground and her limbs just bent to far behind her body as she scurried over the upturned earth. The vines and brambles moved aside for her, allowing her easy passage. She only stopped in front of Myddin. She stood up and stared him down.

"Step. Aside," she ordered.

Myddin didn't move or respond in any way. A twitch of Nehelleni's eye was all it took. The vines encircling everyone's necks tightened ever so slightly, drawing blood. A couple of gasps and a few whimpers broke the silence. Myddin glanced around with only her eyes before turning his head fully and looking towards the Silver Sanctum. There! He felt it. He hid a half-smirk from the witch, masking it with a frown when he faced her again.

"Very well," he said in a low voice. "If you can take it, the Crystal's yours' now."

"What?! No!" Chiron cried. "Myddin, you can't! Even if she kills us, you can't let her enter the Sanctum! Think of Sere! Think of my daughter, and the people!"

"I'm sorry, Milord," Myddin said. "There's nothing more I can do now."

He lowered his light shield and without being restrained by Nehellenia's vines, stepped out of the way. Nehellenia smirked and then walked past.

"Witch!" One of the Guards shouted. "You'll never get away with this!"

Nehellenia ignored him as she moved towards the Sanctum, her constructs once again all parting for their mistress.

"I won't get away with this?" Nehellenia repeated mockingly. "They always say that and yet I always seem to get my way."

Nothing could stop her as she closed in on Sanctum doors. She reached out to force them open.

"In a minute, Queen Nehellenia will be young and beautiful again! And she will possess the ultimate power in this galaxy!" she spoke eagerly, hungrily.

Even as her dark magic stretched out across the door from her fingertips, a voice rang out from behind.

"Beautiful?" Warrior Moon asked incredulously. "You were _never_ beautiful."

Nehellenia froze and her magic spell seized up. Myddin looked with worry from the witch to Warrior Moon, and held up a finger to shush. Moon ignored him to press Nehellenia more.

"You are without doubt the ugliest thing to ever live and you know it!" Moon shouted at her angrily.

The witch began to tremble with anger, letting out whimpers of rage.

"Silence!" Myddin barked at Moon.

"You sold your soul!" Moon bellowed at Nehellenia. "You ate your people in exchange for prolonged beauty that still withered and died as it must! Your beauty will never last eternally, because an ugly person can never cover who they really are forever!"

Myddin raised his wand and aimed at the witch again, knowing he was about to have to fight for Moon's life. Nehellenia spun around, shrieking a war cry.

"You die next!" she cried and crouched to leap into the air.

However, she never left the ground. The door of the Silver Sanctum hung open, striking the witch in the back and forcing her stumble forward. Nehellenia righted herself and turned around only to be blinded by the pure glow emanating from within. She growled and hissed at the light that filled the whole yard, and slashed her claws at it like a wild animal.

"It burns! It burns!" Nehellenia cried, shrinking away from it.

A figure stepped out of the Sanctum. As the light dimmed somewhat, it was revealed to be Queen Serenity herself, holding the Silver Crystal cupped in her hands close to her body. Her eyes were closed in meditation.

"Serenity…" Chiron whispered in worry, and began a renewed struggle to break away from the witch's snare.

"The Silver Crystal…" Nehellenia gasped, and growled, reaching out her body. "Give it to me!"

She dashed forward and just as she was within grabbing distance of the gem, Serenity's eyes snapped open. Nehellenia was blown away by what looked like white sea mist. The witch screamed and yowled not from being thrown through the air, but from her skin being burned from its touch.

Serenity stepped out into the yard and when her feet touched the soil, another wave of mist blew outwards as if by the gentle breeze. The black vines and brambles of Nehellenia dissolved into dust and blew away, freeing all those captured in their grasp.

"Darling!" Chiron cried, running to her side.

"Chiron," Serenity answered, smiling at him. "It's going to be alright now."

Then she turned back to Nehellenia, her expression becoming firm, as she stared down the witch halfway across the yard from her. The witch moved as a blur and tried coming in from the side to take the Crystal from the Queen's hand only to be blasted back again. She tumbled a decent ways and came to rest five or so yards from the Matriarch. By now, her body was covered in horrific burns from the Crystal's power and she could only shake and twitch on the ground. However, Nehellenia opened her once again when she became acutely away of a presence standing over her. It was Serenity, who glared contemptuously down at her.

"Queen Nehellenia of the Dead Moon," she addressed her opponent. "You have invaded my kingdom, murdered my people, and my Warriors, and threatened my niece, husband, good friends, and my loyal Guards all in the name of stealing that which is not yours'. The charges against you are very severe, as I am sure you are aware."

Nehellenia scowled at her, turned over, and leapt away. Squatting on all fours, she turned around, glowering at the other Queen.

"You think you have the authority to stand in judgment over me? That you have the right?" Nehellenia demanded in deep offense.

Serenity remained firm, just raising her head to stare down the other ruler as she stood up.

"Safe and sound behind your bubble and your gift from a forsaken queen!" Nehellenia said accusingly pointing at the Crystal. "We should all be so blessed!"

"Excuses!" Serenity shouted furiously.

"Silence!" Nehellenia shouted.

She raised her arm, producing several floating objects that appeared to be glowing purple crystal spikes.

"And die!" she added, thrusting her arm forward.

The projectiles flew at Serenity, but were harmlessly shattered on the energy shield the Queen cast. Serenity stood silently and perfectly still with only her gown fluttering in the wind. Eventually, the barrage ended and Nehellenia fell onto her hands and knees in exhaustion. Her last desperate attack had failed, and Serenity and the Moon Kingdom still stood.

"Nehellenia, though I once called you friend…" Serenity said. "I do not know you. Be gone from my sight forevermore."

Nehellenia could only growl and howl like a beast as she was raised into the air by the mist. It then wrapped around her arms and legs, almost solidifying into manacles. Her arms were stretched out to the sides and her legs were forced down straight.

"Nehellenia, I henceforth banish you to The Void between realities," Serenity proclaimed.

The air warped and changed behind Nehellenia, and then the fabric of reality tore open, looking like a dusted seam. On the other side, just pitch black. Nehellenia looked behind her and found herself trembling. She looked at Serenity with pleading eyes, only there was no pity to be found. In fact, there was no readable emotion in the other Queen's eyes. Rage filled the witch and she grit her already bared teeth.

"You won't be rid of me!" Nehellenia shouted in righteous fury. "No prison, not even the hellish Void of Nothing between realities can house me forever! I will find my way back! I will take my revenge on your daughter if I must, but I will find my way back and avenge myself, Serenity! Mark my words!"

"No one has ever returned from The Void. Even simply trying to cross from reality into the never have never succeeded," Serenity replied coldly. "It is a barren place from which there is no return. It traps one and all in its hell. Goodbye, Nehellenia."

With that, Nehellenia was drawn into the void.

"May your kingdom and your line come to ruin!" Nehellenia shouted a final curse even as the rift closed. "May your dau…!"

She cut was off when the rift sealed.

Warrior Moon was beside herself staring at the spot where Nehellenia had shouted her last before her damnation. It was over, just like that. She couldn't believe it. All that carnage and fighting just for Serenity to so easily conquer her.

"Sere? Sere!"

Moon was shaken from her reverie by Chiron's shouts. Her eyes widened at the sight of an unconscious Serenity in her husband's arms, and at the red stain on the front of her gown at the waist. Chiron screamed and hugged her close. The Crystal lay on the ground at his feet, still glowing but forgotten.

"Myddin! We need you!" Chiron shouted at the wizard.

The Wizard appeared right next to him. He rushed over the instant Serenity collapsed. He was holding his own long tanned jacket, which he had taken off. He spread it out on the ground even as Chiron tried to shake his wife awake.

"Sere!" Chiron cried in desperation, and then lowered his voice to a series of repeated hysterical whispers: "Stay with me! Stay with me!"

His emotions began to become unbottled. His eyes moistened and his voice got louder and more frantic with each plea.

"Stay with me! Stay with me! Stay with me!" he begged as she breathing became shallow. "No! Serenity! No please! Please! Please!"

"Quickly, Milord, lay her down, and hold her still while I examine her," Myddin told him.

"Damn it all!" Chiron cried. He got down onto one knee to set his wife down. "Sere! Wake up! Oh, damn it! I knew this would happen!"

Then he glared at Myddin, tears flowing down his face. He internally damned the wizard for convincing him to take Serenity to the Silver Sanctum. He set her down and held her as Myddin rolled up her gown to begin the examination.

"You over-exerted yourself," Chiron said to his unconscious wife, brushing her hair out of her face. He cast another hateful glare towards Myddin, which the wizard ignored.

"This is a very serious wound," Myddin muttered, and aimed his wand at her abdomen. "I can stop the bleeding temporarily. Hopefully, that will be enough."

"Oh, please, no," the mighty lord begged to benevolent deity who might be listening. "I can't lose her. Please, I just can't."

Even as Warrior Moon stood frozen, trying to process what was happening. The palace guard ran past her, frenzied under Kratos's orders to fetch a doctor. Finally losing the strength to stand, the Warrior fell and sat in the grass, mind going blank.

What should have been the happiest night for the Lunarian royal family had become its worst.

* * *

Within the hour, Serenity was carried back inside the palace on a stretcher and taken back to the medical ward. A doctor and a whole medical staff had been fetched, and they were currently operating on her. Outside in the waiting, Chiron paced the floor, man possessed with worry. One of the maids held Serena, gently rocking her back and forth and singing her to sleep. Myddin sat in a chair, quietly meditating to rejuvenate himself, and then there was Celine. She sat the corner stiffly with her hands on her knees. She stared down at her hands, mind lost and eyes moist.

"Isabel… Calli… Amphitrite… Peitho…" her fevered mind called out the names of her fallen sisters-in-arms. "Gone. All gone… just like that."

She couldn't believe it. Why had this happened? She replayed the battle in her head over and over again, trying to discern an answer.

"Why? Why did they die? How could we have known she could do that? We weren't prepared… weren't ready, we…" and there it was. Her eyes widened with realization. "We weren't ready for this."

For all the training her four elders had put her through, they still hadn't been ready for an opponent like Nehellenia, and they all fell quickly by her hand. It was only her fear and desperation that saved Celine. It drove her to use everything in her arsenal to fight the witch, and even that would have failed her if not for the Queen.

"We weren't ready," Celine told herself again, her shoulders sagging.

She stared ahead glumly as the maid happened to step into her direct line of sight with little Serena. The lone Warrior stood and walked over to them. The maid noticed her coming and faced her bowing. She had pale skin, black hair, and pale crimson eyes.

"Good evening, Duchess," she greeting. "You need not worry. The baby's safe. You should rest after what you've been through."

"I've taken it easy enough, Beth," Celine answered, looking right at Serena.

She stepped in close, brushing a loose strange out of the girls' face. Then she leaned in close to the infant and whispered to her.

"Sleep sound, tonight, little one. I will protect you, always. I will perfect my skills and abilities, becoming the strongest Warrior Moon of all, and I will turn my fallen sisters' successors into the strongest Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus this kingdom has ever seen."

A determined fire blazed in Celine's eyes and she straightened up, moving away from the slumbering newborn. A fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks as her lips trembled.

"This will never happen again, I swear it," she said resolutely. "No matter what it takes."

"I think I'm going to pity whoever receives the Celestial Gear next," Beth the maid thought, and looked down at the child in her arms again.

"My husband and I have been wanting one like you for a while now. Maybe it time to stop wasting time, you know," she thought. "I already have the names picked out. Jarilo if it's a boy and Luna if it's a girl."

* * *

"Her Majesty's means of disposing of Nehellenia did seem rather rash," Myddin commented.

Chiron stopped pacing and faced him in shock, but remained where he was. Myddin still sat with his eyes closed in meditation.

"Rash?!" Chiron retorted incredulously. "Did you not see her out there? She tore poor Isabel, Aphrodite, Callisto, and Peitho to pieces, murdered over half the palace staff, and came back from having her physical form destroyed multiple times just to be more grotesque with each successive regeneration. Sere didn't have any other choice."

"Perhaps," Myddin replied. "But The Void is nothing to be trifled with."

"What do you mean?" Chiron asked.

"Tearing open the dimensional wall to cast someone into The Void between universes is very dangerous. It might have caused a paradox or let something just as bad as or even worse than Nehellenia back into our universe had Her Majesty left it open any longer," the wizard responded. "And I can only imagine Warrior Pluto will be very displeased."

"Will she even know?" Chiron asked, slowly walking over to where Myddin sat. "It was only open for a moment."

"She'll sense it," Myddin said, finally opening his eyes. He looked up at his lord with a serious expression. "It's her business to be aware of these things."

"Her business?" Chiron said incredulously. "You mean when she's not off gallivanting around the universe with whatever strays she's picked up?"

"You mean gallivanting around saving the universe, Milord," Myddin corrected him.

"Her duty is to guard the Space-Time Door. Not use it as her own personal limousine," Chiron complained.

"Her duty is to protect the Door in order to maintain the natural flow of all history," Myddin answered. "How she goes about it has always been up to her."

Before Chiron could argue further, the door opened and out stepped the doctor and a nurse. The queen's husband briskly walked over to them. The room's other oocupants also turned their attention to them.

"Doctor?" Chiron asked.

"Milord," the doctor bowed before answering. "The Queen's condition is stabilized. Provided there are no more incidents like the one you survived tonight, she will live."

"Oh, thank the stars…" Chiron breathed out a sigh of relief, nearly weeping.

He stifled it and turned to the doctor again with full composure maintained.

"How exactly will we need to care for her during her recovery?" Chiron asked, his worry evident.

"She is not to leave her bed for the several weeks," the doctor answered firmly. "At this juncture she is very fragile and will need to be watched by the palace medical staff all day. Her meals are to be brought to her. And she is not to eat any hard food."

"Understood. The entire staff will be informed immediately," Chiron replied, and turned to usher over a servant.

While Chiron relayed the doctor's orders to him, Celine approached them. She looked from her lord to the doctor with her own concerned expression. Myddin remained where he was seated, his head bowed in sorrow for his queen.

"What exactly happened to her?" Celine asked the doctor. "Why did she bleed?"

"Well…" the doctor mumbled, and looked to Chiron.

The queen's husband turned to him upon sending the servant on his way.

"Consider any questions from her as valid as my own," Chiron instructed the doctor.

"Very well," the doctor replied and cleared his throat. "Stress on Her Majesty's body caused her to suffer internal bleeding of the womb and birth canal. She hadn't the chance to recuperate after the birth at all when the witch attacked. We've stopped it, but the damage is… not treatable, even by our technology."

Chiron was torn, and found it difficult to keep smiling even though he knew his wife would survive the night.

"What do you mean the damage is untreatable?" Celine asked. "What will the lasting effects be?"

"Well, for that," the doctor said, and turned to Chiron. "I'm sorry, Milord, but Serena is the only child by natural birth the Queen and you will ever have."

"I don't care about that!" Chiron said. "My wife is still alive, and so is our child. I'm going to see her now."

"She needs her rest," the doctor said.

"Then I will faithfully sit at her bedside 'til her awakes," the lord replied, and motioned for the nurse to lead him to Serenity.

With that, they left. The doctor watched them go until they'd passed through to the recovery rooms before turning to Celine.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he told her.

Celine hung her head, taking a deep breath to keep from breaking down again. When she was able, she met his gaze again.

"Your sympathies are appreciated," she said evenly. "My sisters-in-arms died doing their duty, and that's all anyone could ask of them."

"Somehow I doubt you're really at peace with that," the doctor thought, but he answered:

"Quite. Do try to rest, Duchess Celine. It's been a trying night for all of us."

He bowed and left, leaving the waiting room with its few occupants. Myddin stood, and walked over to Celine, putting an understanding hand on her shoulder.

"I know you are required to maintain composure in front of others," he spoke so only she could hear. "But don't forget to let yourself feel it, away from prying eyes."

Celine only nodded, eyes remaining straight ahead, away from the old man behind her.

"I'm so sorry this happened on my watch," the wizard added morosely. "I should have been watching our own borders closely instead of just worrying about Camelot."

Celine stifled a hiccup and a sob before answering.

"You have your duties. I won't ask anymore of you than that," she spoke plainly. Her gaze remained ahead and her stance tall and firm the entire time. "And we had ours'. We failed to keep Nehellenia out. Then we failed to kill her. We weren't ready for this invasion. It was our complacence that allowed this to happen. As the Duchess of Neaera and the last Celestial Warrior of the kingdom, it is my duty to see to it this tragedy is not repeated."

"You needn't do this alone," Myddin told her.

Celine finally turned to face her with face as unreadable as a page of smeared ink. The old man was shocked at her newfound stoic look.

"I am the only Warrior left until the successors of my sisters are found," she said coldly. "I _am_ alone. If you really want to help, watch over Serena for me until I come to her quarters, myself. Beth will serve you tea if you'd like. That is all."

Then Celine followed after Chiron and the nurse to go watch over Serenity. Myddin could only be sorry for her. He barely noticed the maid, Beth, come up beside him. She still cradled Serena in her arms.

"I think we've lost the old Celine, Milord," she said.

"More's the pity. She was only one of the five not completely consumed by her duties," he answered.

* * *

"Believe me. You don't want to look inside those body bags. It's bad enough Duchess Celine will have to in order to make positive identification tomorrow," Kratos said.

His Vice-Captain Alke could only stare at the four forms lying still in the black sacks. They were strapped atop gurneys as they were rolled out of the palace's main entrance. They were the last to be carried out as the morgue workers had been busy removing all the splattered remains of guards and servants alike for the last hour. Being located near the back of the palace and in multiple pieces, Nerio Isabel fon Mars, Callisto fon Jupiter, Amphitrite fon Mercury, and Peitho fon Venus had taken the longest to gather up.

Outside, cameras snapped as civilians and the media alike crowded around the palace metal fence. The guards had to push them back so the gate could be opened for the van carrying the mutilated remains of the Warriors.

"And there's all the newsscroll reporters, right on cue," Kratos muttered. "Alke, have anyone you can get to respond help keep them back. Oh, by the powers, this is going to be a fiasco tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," Alke replied and started calling up any surviving guards she could.

Kratos turned away from her and looked around at the untouched front yard of the palace, finding how pristine it was uncanny compared to the mess inside and in the back. Behind him, he heard Alke sigh.

"Captain, I was about to call three additional guards. Anymore, and the palace will be under-protected," she said.

"That's fine," Kratos replied.

Then a moment passed, and he asked:

"Of the palace staff and Royal Guard. How many remain?"

"All staff members not living in the palace servant's quarters have gone home hours ago," Vice Captain Alke answered. "The afternoon shift was in the servant's quarters either asleep or preparing for bed at the time of the attack and evacuated immediately when I sounded the alarm. Only the night crew received casualties, but even that was a heavy loss at thirty-nine. As for the palace Guard, we lost 40% of our overnight watchers."

Kratos cursed under his breath.

"That makes for a total of one hundred and fourteen deaths, including the four Warriors," Alke finished.

"Damn it all! Damn it all to the darkest pit!" Kratos uttered angrily. He tapped his foot irately. "What bothers me is that she slipped in without our notice. I can see her perhaps being able to phase through our borders, but without tripping an alarm? How? The coding on the ancient glyphs are known only to the Magi that man them and the Queen, and even then they're frequently changed and tweaked."

"Do you supposed we've been betrayed?" Alke asked with a tinge of worry.

"But by who? Who would sell us out for that madwoman?" Kratos asked, scratching his chin. "They'd have to know they couldn't trust her to uphold her end of any bargain they made. To help her bypass all our defenses would have been suicide."

"Well, the alternative explanation is… Nehellenia is just _that_ good a witch," Alke answered.

Kratos finally turned partially to look at her thoughtfully.

"That is a possibility, and it means she won't be the only one who could figure out how to do it. Our defenses will have to be amended," he said. "She may have discovered an energy signal our scanners couldn't detect. In either event, we also have to assume someone familiar with the inner workings of our homeland defense has committed high treason."

"Yes, sir. If we don't have everyone involved in keeping our border safe investigated, you can rest assured Lord Chiron will," Alke replied.

"Yes, and I pity the traitor when we get our hands on them," Kratos said.

"Yes, and…" Alke started to answer, but stopped.

"What is it?" Kratos asked.

"I…" Alke looked around, but spotted nothing. "I could have sworn I just heard what sounded like a dragging, wheezing, groaning noise, like 'ZROOOP, ZROOOP, ZROOOP'."

"Ah," Kratos replied, and turned away, unconcerned. "Never you mind it, then. I knew she might come when Her Majesty tore open a rift in the dimensional wall. Do not sound the alarm again, Alke. Warrior Pluto has come to have words with our Queen."

"…What?" was all Alke could managed.

* * *

Somewhere in a secluded corner of the palace, the Space-Time Door had just finished materializing. One of its double doors opened up, and a young woman of about fourteen years with shortcut black hair poked her out. She looked around in confusion before turning to look into the control room again.

"Grandmother, why have we returned to the Moon Kingdom? I thought you said you were bored of just standing around guarding the Door all day long," she asked.

"Hmm?" a tall young-looking woman with green hair replied, looking from the central console.

Her long hair was hung behind her, as it was tied to stay out of her face by the topknot bun she had. She wore a white dress shirt with a black ribbon tie and a silvery waistcoat. She wore a long dress jacket, accessorized with a pocket-watch on a fob chain, informal tweed trousers, and short, shiny elasticated boots.

Across from her, also leaning over the console were a man and a woman, both in their middle age. The man was tall with finely combed dark hair, broad shoulders and a broad, round face, and his eyes were hazel. The woman had puffy brown hair that was kept otherwise cut short. Her face was narrow, thin, and her eyes dark brown.

"I said," the girl at the exit repeated. "Why have we returned to the Moon Kingdom?"

At this, the man and woman across from Setsuna looked at each other in confusion.

"Oh, yes," Setsuna replied absently, looking between the console the girl. "I have… urgent business to attend to here, Susan. For you see, you see, I've detected a desertion, er, distortion here this night. Yes, I shall have to see it to, won't I?"

"Moon Kingdom? Professor, what is this all about?" the man asked.

"Hmm?" Setsuna turned to have, having not heard.

The man turned his lips inward out of irritation and repeated himself.

"I said, what's this about a Moon Kingdom, Professor?"

"Oh. Oh, right," Setsuna answered, shaking her head as if from a daze. "Yes, I forgot about you, Ian."

"Forgot about me?!" Ian cried, indignantly putting his hands on his hips. "Now see here…!"

"I'm going to have to ask for you and Barbara to stay in the Space-Time Door this time. I won't be long," Setsuna said as if he had been quiet.

"What?!" Ian retorted. "Why? And that doesn't answer my question. When in our future is there going to be a Moon Kingdom?"

"Not the future, my dear boy, but the past. We're in 976 A.D., by your planet's calendar," Setsuna exclaimed as she finally stepped away from the console.

"We're in 976?" the woman asked.

"Oh, how good of you to finally join us, Barbara," Setsuna replied, as she paused and went through her pockets to make sure she had everything.

"I've been standing the whole time," Barbara muttered.

"As I was just telling Ian before you came in… Ah-ha!," Setsuna said. She pulled a ring from her pocket and put it on. "Never leave home without it… Now what was I saying? Oh, yes."

She turned to Ian and Barbara again as she fiddled with the ring in her fingers.

"There was a Moon Kingdom up here a thousand years prior to your births. Now do be good children and stay in my Door this time. I can't have the two of you going around telling people there's no such place in the 20th century."

"What?" they both asked.

"Is something I've said unclear. Hmm?" Setsuna asked, craning her neck forward.

"How could someone build a Moon Kingdom in the 10th century?" Barbara asked.

"Actually, they built it 9000 years ago from this point in time, my dears. Now please stay inside."

"Why can't we-?" Ian tried to protest, but Setsuna and her granddaughter were out the door before he could finish.

Ian sighed in resignation for a moment, but then a rebellious glint sparked in his eyes and he went over to the exit.

"What are you going? The Professor told us to stay here," Barbara said, hurrying after him.

"Oh, I'll only be out a moment. I just want to look about. A little walk never hurt anyone," Ian replied, and stepped outside as well.

"This won't end well," Barbara sighed and followed after him.

* * *

When she awoke, Serenity was for the second time that night in a hospital bed. Her body felt numb, though she could guess why. Through her blurry vision, she could make out her surroundings in a dark room and could plainly see she was hooked up to machines. A heart-rate meter 'pinged' in even intervals. Her eyes strayed down to her right arm and she saw she was indeed hooked up to an I.V.

"At least I'm numb by design and not because I've lost too much blood," she thought, with relief.

She tried to shake off the grogginess and clear her vision, but the drugs were making that difficult and she didn't dare try to sit up just yet. Was Chiron or a doctor about? Perhaps they could help. Serenity looked around and sure enough, she saw her husband sitting in a chair by her bedside. She knew he must have been there a long time, because he was settled comfortably enough in the seat to fall asleep. His head was bowed and his chest moved up and down in slowly as he let a series of low snores. His arms were crossed.

She smiled at her adoringly. He had remained at her side faithfully throughout the whole ordeal. She hated to wake him, but she could tell from his troubled face that his dreams were not of the pleasant sort.

"Darling!" she hoarsely called out. "Chiron! Its time to wake up."

Chiron grumbled in his sleep and moved his head to the side, but did not rouse. Serenity gripped at the blanket weakly with her hands and tried again.

"Chiron!"

"Ah!" the lord was jerked awake and nearly fell out of his chair.

However, he grabbed at the arms and steadied himself as he groaned, lost in the leftover haze of sleep. He shook his head, bringing himself fully into the waking world and looked up. There was Serenity, still in the hospital bed, but awake.

"Sere!" he exclaimed, joyously.

He dropped from the chair onto his knees and leaned up against the side of the bed. He reached out, but hesitated, uncertain of how to safely make physical contact with his wife. He made do by cupping her cheek in his hand.

"You've pulled through," he whispered, close to tears again. "The doctor said you were fine, but you were asleep for so long I was beginning to fear we'd lose you."

"You can't be rid of me just yet," Serenity giggled. "The little one isn't ready to take over."

"Indeed," Chiron replied, kissing the hand that wasn't hooked up machinery of all sort. "Speaking of, she has been put to bed again, and Celine watches her as she did before."

"I am beginning to get a sense of déjà vu," Serenity said bluntly.

"Indeed," Chiron said, and then his eyes grew dark. "And on the morrow, I will see to it that the incompetent fools that let the witch in will…"

"You will do nothing of the sort without my approval!" Serenity interrupted him vehemently.

Chiron was stunned at her stern reaction. Serenity then tried to continue, but broke into a coughing fit.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Chiron gasped. "I've upset you. Hang on, my Moonlight. I shall fetch you some water."

Serenity nodded through the coughs as he got to his feet and quickly left. Serenity continued to cough and hack for a moment before it stopped, but afterwards her throat just felt dry and her tongue was like sandpaper.

"Oh, Chiron, please hurry," she thought.

After another cough, she became acutely aware of a presence at the door.

"Who is it?" she called with a croaky voice.

The door swung open, revealing two figures, one of which was holding a glass of water for her.

"Oh, Trista! And I see you've brought Svetlana," the matriarch breathed.

"Ah, yes, about the name. I prefer to go by Setsuna now, actually," the greenette said.

"Setsuna?" Serenity asked.

"Yes," the Warrior replied as she handed her the glass.

Serenity thankfully drank from it, and the cold beverage was instantly soothing over her dry throat.

"And I prefer Susan now."

"I see you've both been spending a lot of time of Earth. You've traded in those Lunarian names I gave you," Serenity said when she'd finished.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Setsuna said. "You've been renaming me since the beginning, so no one would question why only Warrior Pluto is eternal."

"Perhaps you should try going by your own name again someday," Serenity said.

Setsuna retreated into herself, looking haunted.

"No. No, I should think not. That name is dead to me," she said. Then she shook it off and looked away. "Mm. Yes, our earthly names. I find Earth's timeline particularly interesting."

Setsuna replied put her hands in her pockets.

"Yes, speaking of timelines and all things to do with dimensions in space…"

Setsuna trailed off, regarding Serenity as she waited for an explanation. Serenity swallowed as apprehension took her. She looked away the Warrior glumly.

"I know I was… impetuous," she finally said.

"I should think so, my dear, but that's hardly an excuse. Wouldn't you agree?" Setsuna pressed.

"I know. I was scared and enraged at what Nehellenia had done, and I just… acted," Serenity confessed and sighed unhappily.

"Mm. That is exactly what someone in your position of power absolutely cannot do," Setsuna reprimanded.

"Grandmother, you're addressing the Queen!" Susan whispered tensely.

Setsuna just waved her off.

"I am _aware_ of whom I am addressing," she replied. "Do not interrupt again."

"I'm sorry, Pluto," Serenity said at last. "I am aware that I may have made life more difficult for you by wantonly meddling in forces I'm not well-versed in. I hope you can forgive me."

"Hmm? I was never angry to begin with," Setsuna said, sitting down. "However, the fact remains this is a very serious matter. I will need unlimited access to the exact place it happened until I have finished my examination and possible reparation of the dimensional wall. Can I count on you to grant it?"

"Of course, but what reparation?" Serenity asked. "I closed it."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, my dear child," Setsuna replied. "The fabric of time and space is not something that can _just_ be opened and closed like a door, and doors can be opened from both sides, generally. The consequences may be farther reaching than even I can imagine at this point."

Fear went through Serenity's system, making the heart-monitor spike.

"As in, Nehellenia may return?" Serenity asked wearily.

"It's possible, I would say," Setsuna said thoughtfully. "Or worse. Far darker things have been sent into the void between realities before. Some I put there myself."

"But how would they ever escape? Even vessels people built to cross the void never make it through," Serenity said.

"Another damn fool might rashly rip the dimensional wall open?" Setsuna suggested.

"Grandmother!"

"Hmm?" Setsuna turned to Susan questioningly.

"No, she's right…. Susan?" Serenity admitted. "I was foolish, and I'm sorry."

"Think not on it again, my dear," Setsuna said genially, leaning forward in the chair. "I will personally ensure there are no reprisals."

Serenity nodded with an air of gratitude.

"And you were right," Serenity then added.

"Mm?" Serenity hummed questioningly.

"I should have invited the Warriors of the Outer System as you suggested," Serenity said. "They would have been a welcome presence tonight."

"Ah, yes, them. They…"

They were interrupted by the doors opened as Chiron came back, holding a glass of water.

"Sorry I took so long, Sere. The guard seems to have apprehended a strange man and woman who were wandering the palace. It's anyone's guess to how they got…" he trailed off upon seeing Setsuna and Susan.

He sighed in displeasure, eyeing Setsuna unhappily.

"Never mind," he said, and walked over to give Serenity the glass.

She accepted it happily and took a sip. Setsuna and Susan were, meanwhile, both palming their faces.

"You can collect your companions from Interrogation Room Beta," Chiron told the two. "Lady Trista, you really must teach your companions how to obey a simple command like "Stay in the Space-Time Door"."

"Believe me, Lord Chiron, I've tried," Setsuna replied, sighing.

She got up and bowed to Serenity.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesties, but it seems I must be going. I have my investigation of the palace yard to conduct, and it really can't wait," she said.

"Grandmother, what about Ian and Barbara?"

"Hmm? What about them?"

"You can't just leave them to rot in the dungeon!"

"Can't I? Well, I should think a night in the cells might finally drive the point home that when I tell them not to leave the Door, I mean it."

"Grandmother!"

"And stop calling me that! …Makes me sound old."

"But you are my…"

"That is beside the point!"

Serenity and Chiron watched the pair argue until they left the room, leaving the royals by themselves.

"Myddin was right. She did come," Chiron commented.

"Yes," Serenity said regretfully.

Chiron turned to her and sat down again.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"I hope so. I really hope so," Serenity said and looked away with guiltily. "Now I just pray my actions do not come back to haunt us, or our little girl."

"Worry not about Serena," Chiron assured her. "She will grow up, and do everything she was born to do. Our kingdom will continue to be strong and proud under her leadership. I promise you this."

"Don't make promises no one can know if you will be able keep, my love," Serenity told him, stroking his cheek.

"Then I can promise I will do everything in my power to make sure of it," Chiron replied.

He leaned in and kissed her. Their lips met and their stayed way for a long time before Chiron broke contact and returned to the chair.

"Now sleep, my love. On the morrow, I will handle everything while you recover. Absolutely everything."

 **Next Upload:** Interlude: The Aftermath

 **Next Chapter:** Princess Serena


	3. Interlude: Aftermath

**Celestial Warrior Moon:**

 **Memories of the Silver Millennium**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any _Sailor Moon_ related properties _._ _Sailor Moon_ is the property of Toei Animation and Naoko Takeuchi. This is a fan work created to celebrate the work. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Cover image by _SomeoftheFame_. Thank you so, so much, man.

 **Interlude**

 **Aftermath**

9:37PM, Lunar Palace, Lunar District, Moon Kingdom, Zeta 15th, 9974 M.N.S., Moon Kingdom reckoning. July 3rd, 976 A.D., Earth reckoning.

" _Left… Left… Left, right, left… Left…"_ she quietly hummed to herself as she paced about the hall, back and forth.

She guarded the royal family alone now, which required extra vigilance. The lone Warrior paused at the door and silently opened it crack. Inside, the Queen slept still hooked up to the machines. The readings were still stable. And the queen's husband still slept in a chair at her bedside, unwilling to leave throughout the night. Celine shut the door again, moving onto the next. Serena let out a series of wet little snores in her crib, so she knew all was well.

Celine sighed, closing the door while rubbing heavy eyes. It was deep into the third night after the incident with the hag from the Dead Moon.

"I'm so tired," she thought wearily. "I haven't had a proper night's rest in days."

Then thoughts of that night bubbled into the forefront of Celine's mind and she straightened, feeling reinvigorated by a desire to resist the gentle call of sleep. She leaned up against the wall beside Serena's bedroom door, crossing her arms and bowing her head, getting slightly more comfortable. Celine could hear footsteps approaching from down the hall. From the heavy thuds and occasional clinking of metal she could tell they were wearing sturdy boots and armor.

"One of the Guard," her tired mind registered.

The guard in plate-armor stopped and saluted her on sight. She saluted in return and told him "At ease." He then continued on his patrol which happened to take him right past where she leaned against the wall.

Celine was unable to suppress a yawn and sunk down a bit, catching the guard's attention. He stopped and took a good long look at her this time, noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

"Not been sleeping well, Milady?" he asked.

"Huh?" Celine replied, trying to shake off the grogginess.

The answer was apparent from her reaction.

"I supposed I can take that as a 'no'," he said.

"Not that I can blame her after living through _that_ ," he thought.

"My nights are busy guarding Their Majesties," Celine replied gruffly.

"If I may, Milady," the Guard said now that she was more attentive. "I can call my superiors and request to have a guard posted here in your stead."

"Oh," Celine replied heavily. "Thank you, but that will not be necessary. I'm fine."

She swayed a bit despite being supported by the wall. The guard tried to hide his skeptical look, and opened his mouth to speak again, but hesitated a moment. She eyed his crossly.

"On your way, sir," she said sternly.

The guard shut his mouth and saluted.

"Of course, Milady," he said.

Celine managed to keep up a façade of alertness as he left, but as he turned the corner, she found herself having trouble keeping her eyelids open.

"No, Her Majesty and the Princess are counting on me. Have to… remain alert… have to… have… to…" she droned to herself for hours until the words lost all meaning.

She sunk down a little more as her head drooped until it rested on her collar as she shut her eyes.

" _Celine…"_ a familiar voice faintly called. _"Celine…"_

"Uuuuuuuugh…" she groaned in response, trying to fight off the embrace of sleep.

" _Celine…"_ the voice called quietly one more time before suddenly becoming so loud and near she could feel its owner's breath. _"CELINE!"_

Celine jolted back to an alert state, straightening for the person in front of her.

"Forgive me," she said, shaking the sleep off and not yet looking the person head on. "I nearly dozed off. Won't happen…"

Celine's voice died in her throat when she finally focused on the other person.

"…Again," she finished weakly with a voice full of fear.

Before her stood Isabel fon Mars, or rather the animated cadaver of her former mentor. She glowered hatefully at the teenager hatefully through dried, bloody eyes. Her face was pale and the skin cracked and gashed from being thrown around. Her body was burned to the point of barely having any flesh left. Celine would have been more horrified had the witch not been a thousandfold more hideous, but still, the sight of her mentor in this state was enough to send chills down her spine and cover her in sweat.

"You little failure…" Isabel scowled.

Celine was still speechless, unable to process how she was seeing this terrible thing or how it had gotten into the palace without notice. Then revenant grabbed her by the front of her tunic, pinning her against the wall. She grabbed at the ripped and torn hand pushing her back.

"Couldn't protect our Queen and Lord when it came down to you… couldn't protect the rest of your sisters-in-arms…" the ghoul of her former friend sneered. "And now you can't even protect herself."

"It-it…" Celine babbled.

Then the beast grabbed her by the throat with both hands. Celine's eyes bulged as she felt her air get cut off. Then Isabel began slamming her against the wall.

"For your cowardice, you'll be damned to Tartarus for all eternity! Such a useless Celestial Warrior has no business even existing! You should be stripped of your right to wear the Celestial Gear! You are nothing!" The ghoul screamed at her.

The corners of Celine's eyes teared up as the thing continued shouting at her.

"…You're not real…" Celine finally sobbed.

In response to that, Isabel threw her head back and cackled.

"And what makes you say that?"

"You're dead," Celine replied.

"And I've come back to haunt you for letting me die!" Isabel snarled.

"You're not Isabel!" Celine argued, and began trying to pry her fingers loose.

Celine pushed off from the wall and began squirming to break free. Her body sparked into bright light, and she was in her Warrior form.

"It wasn't my fault you died!" Celine cried, finally breaking the ghoul's grip and jumping to the side, away from the horrible thing assaulting her.

The ghastly visage of Isabel growled at her, opening its mouth unnaturally wide.

"And you would never bear me a grudge for it! There was no way to stop what happened to Isabel!" Moon finished, and looked on her enemy with a stern eye. "Who are you really?"

"Who am I?" the thing asked. "I'm just a dream."

"Dream?" Moon asked.

"Or a nightmare…" the creature said as the image of Isabel faded, revealing a different visage.

"Nehellenia!" Moon cried, raising her sword defensively.

The witch smiled at her. Moon took a step back, watching her closely. She briefly wondered why the witch appeared as she did before the corruption, with pale, beautiful skin and long black hair that was perfectly groomed. The very sight of her restored to her former beauty shook her to her core. Moon trembled, wondering how it was possible.

"Definitely a nightmare…" Moon muttered.

This only made Nehellenia's smile deepen. Then she opened her mouth wide, revealing the fangs signature to her species as she lunged.

"Celine? Celine!"

Celine's eyes opened wide as she shaken away. First she shoved the person shaking her away and then sprang from the wall, drawing a blade from her belt.

"Celine, wait!" the person shouted, but she was still too lost in the terror to listen.

She screamed and lunged, slicing back and forth intending to kill this foe. Her opponent drew their blade and blocked before using their superior body weight to push back and throw Celine off her feet to the floor. She landed with an "oof", and sat there, blinking for a moment. Her mind brought back to the present now, she looked up at the other person properly for the first time. She eyes widened in horror and got onto her knees and dropped onto her hands in a low bow.

"Forgive me, Milord! I was lost in a night terror, and allowed my fear to overtake me!"

"That, I can see," Chiron replied, sheathing his sword.

He stared down at the girl with a look of almost pity on his face.

"No harm done," he said assuringly. "But I think…"

Serena's cries rang out from the bedroom on the other side of the wall from them, interrupting his thoughts.

"Get some sleep," he hastily finished and opened the door to his baby daughter's room. "Now now, Little Sere…"

Celine sat up as he vanished inside the room. She could near him consoling Serena inside, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Maybe that guard was right. I should just get some relief and go to sleep," she thought, feeling embarrassed from what just happened.

She sighed, feeling her shoulders sagging. She knew it was just a nightmare, and yet…

"The phantom of my dream was just saying what I've been telling myself, anyway," she admitted, inwardly.

She shut her eyes, and immediately regretted. In her mind's eye, she saw her teammates being slaughtered all over again. She saw Nehellenia using their severed heads to try demoralizing the Palace Guard. She saw the remains in the coroner's lab. Mental images of the royal family ending up in a similar state flashed before her eyes, making her shudder and hug herself.

"Never again," she vowed. "I will not fail them again."

She opened tear-stained eyes again.

"…Never again."

C

"I am sorry, Myddin, but I just fail to see how Nehellenia could possibly be able to make magic function at an undetectable energy frequency. Our scanners have every recorded school of magic programmed into them, including the Black Arts Nehellenia used to devour her own people. "

There was only silence from the wizard, enough to make the person he spoke with halt their pacing. She turned and looked at the monitor currently displaying a live-feed of him from the planet surface. Stone walls behind him denoted he was inside some kind of castle, likely Arthur the 3rd's. He scratched his bearded chin in quiet thought.

"Myddin?" she asked again, turning to face the large screen in the command center fully.

"Hmm…" he hummed as he continued to think.

The engineer seated at the control console that ran the super-computer and the live feed swiveled the chair around to face her commanding officer as they waited for Myddin's reply.

"Myddin?" the office again tried.

"Hmm?" he responded, turning to her. "Oh, forgive me, General, I was just considering other means by which Nehellenia could have bypassed our scanners. Perhaps she never passed through them at all and there was no cloaking involved until she had entered the palace courtyard."

The general gave him a confused stare.

"How would that even be possible? The scanners encompass the entire dome and go under the entirety of the kingdom. And we've run a whole diagnostics of the system. Everything was operation at the time of her entry. There is nowhere for her to go _to_ bypass our border watch," she said.

"Rusila, my dear, you need to think outside of the box," Myddin replied.

"That's _General_ Rusila, and I am trying, but nothing fits," she said. She paced a few more steps as she wracked her brain. "Voidism, perhaps, but that also leaves a traceable signal. There's just nothing on our scanners, and we know she wasn't in our kingdom until the night of the attack. We have eyewitness accounts of her attacking civilians on one of our asteroid bases the day before."

"Yes, indeed. It's a puzzle," Myddin agreed. "But hopefully she's at least safely and forever on the other side of the dimensional…"

He stopped short of finishing his sentence and his sparked with realization. He jerked his head to one side, and then the other as he ran some rough calculations through his head. Rusila regarded him intently.

"You've thought of something?" she asked.

"Yes…" he said, though more to himself. "Yes, she just might have been able to pull it off. Her chief scientists had been experimenting with it… Yes, she just might have uncovered the secret…"

"Myddin, don't keep us in the dark here? What were her chief scientists studying?" Rusila asked.

Myddin looked into the screen again.

"Dimensional folding," he answered.

The entire command center went quiet. Rusila opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to respond to that.

"Di… dimenstional folding?" she asked.

"Yes, dimensional folding is the process of…"

"I know what it is, Myddin," Rusila stopped him. "You fold two points in space and time together using, in theory, a gravity drive engine, creating a bridge between them, and you simply travel through the rift bypassing all that distance you'd have had to traverse otherwise."

"Yes," Myddin answered, nodding his head.

"But such research was forbidden by Warrior Pluto and the Queen," Rusila said.

"The Asteroid Kingdom was a separate entity once they split off from the Moon Kingdom, and were no longer bound to the law of the Serenities the instant Nehellenia grandmother declared them independent," Myddin said.

"Yes, but the treaty!" Rusila exclaimed. "The treaty they signed for mutual peace, free travel, and trade between the kingdoms had a clause expressly forbidding Dimensional Folding research and development."

"Yes, well, there's a part of the story you have apparently not been made aware of, because the Asteroid Kingdom went dark before you were even a Captain," Myddin explained. "Likely the brass didn't see it as relevant... at the time."

Rusila realized immediately where he was going with this.

"You found out they were experimenting with dimensional folding despite international law," she stated.

Myddin nodded.

"But before you could take any kind of measures, Nehellenia ate her kingdom," Rusila then added.

Again, he nodded.

"She never displayed the ability to generate dimensional folds during any of her feedings throughout the solar system," Myddin said. "We had ultimately concluded that her royal science division had failed to wield any results. Their labs were destroyed by beyond repair and all research erased or destroyed when we investigated."

"So what made her wait? Our Queen wouldn't become pregnant for many more years at that point," Rusila asked.

"I know not," Myddin answered. "Perhaps she had yet to perfect the method, herself."

"Excuse me, Ma'am," one of her subordinates said.

Rusila turned and looked over her shoulder at the man.

"Yes, Corporal," she said.

"What's the difference between teleporting and folding?" he asked.

"Teleporting breaks the caster down to their atomic particles and they pass through the air in slightly shifted dimensional plane, undetectable except by certain spells and devices," Rusila answered. "But they still have to travel the distance. Folding bypasses the distance altogether, so Nehellenia never went through our borders. She simply stepped back into our universe within the palace walls."

With that, she turned back to Myddin on the monitor.

"We must get permission from Her Majesty to begin researching Dimensional Folding, ourselves," she then said.

"That is forbidden," Myddin said.

"I only seek a means to detect it," Rusila stated. "If Nehellenia could do it, she will not be the last. The science team would be under strict orders not to build a gravity drive engine."

To this, Myddin nodded.

"Then you must also seek Warrior Pluto's approval and cooperation," he said with a serious edge to his voice. "However, if dimensional folding was Nehellenia's method…"

"It _was_."

All turned to the new presence in the room. In the doorway stood Setsuna with her arms folded behind her back. She stepped forward and crossed the main walkway until she stood next to Rusila.

"Milady Trista," Rusila saluted.

"At ease," Setsuna replied, only looking at Myddin. "Now then, old friend, I believe you were about to say something. Hmm?"

"Indeed," Myddin said. "If folding was Nehellenia's method, then her banishment into the Void between realities may not be as permanent as we had hoped."

"No one has ever returned from the Void, though," Rusila said.

"Are you willing to take that chance, my dear?" Setsuna asked, looking at her in the corner of her eye.

"No," Rusila said with no hesitation. "We need to develop a way to detect her return."

"Done and done, my dear," Setsuna replied, and reached into one of her jacket pockets.

She produced a small onyx cube with a USB plugin. She handed it to Rusila, who looked the object over.

"Simply plug it into the scanning system and it will download a protocol for detecting dimensional folds into the border scanners," Setsuna explained. "From there, just follow the instructions it will supply you with to maintain it."

"How did…?" Rusila started to ask, but trailed off.

Setsuna chuckled, and padded her in the shoulder.

"You forget, I have a Door," she said.

C

Evening hour, Camelot, England, July 3rd, 976 A.D.

"Hail! Hail! Lord Laramar Orkney beckons at the gate! Open the gate! I must have audience with the King! Tis a matter of life and death!"

The guards looked over the side of the city wall down at the man. It was dark and in the middle of a downpour, so they could only see hooded men on horseback.

"Hail, Lord Larimar! The men rush to let you in already!" the captain replied.

"Wait? Is it really him?" one of the other guards asked.

"Yes, I would recognize that voice and manner anywhere," the captain replied.

The man at the front of the entourage at the city gate drew back his hood, but in the dark, his face could not be made out, only his long, black hair. The vast double doors slowly swung open, allowing the horseback men entry after a moment. As Lord Larimar and his men crossed the threshold, the Captain of the City Guard approached, descending the steps of the wall.

"Greetings, Milord," the captain said, bowing. "I've already sent a man ahead to announce you. The doors of the castle will lie open for your arrival."

"And to you, friend, and thank you," Larimar replied with a nod.

"But what business does His Lordship have with His Majesty at this late hour?" the captain asked. "Your lands lie a day's ride from Camelot. You must have begun your journey early this morning to arrive just now."

Larimar nodded again.

"Aye, 'tis true," Larimar said in reply.

He motioned for his men to fall into ran behind him. There were murmurs among the guard, wondering what it could be.

"I come on urgent business. It concerns Morgan la Fey's newest assault on our lands. The reports have not done it justice," Larimar answered. "This very morning, a man arrived at my castle gate on horseback, half dead from his wounds! They already move inland and were but a day's right from my lands this morning. His Majesty must be informed!"

"Aye! Yes, Your Lordship!" the captain replied, and turned directly to a dozen of his men. "Escort His Lordship and his men to the castle! Clear the streets! None must bar the way!"

"Yes, sir!" they answered.

They turned and ran ahead of the new arrivals to make sure the main road through the city was clear. Larimar nodded to the Captain and then he and his men were on their way.

"Clear the way! Lord Larimar has business with the king!"

C

 _Knock, knock, knock_

"Master Myddin?"

"Coming."

The page waited at the old magician's door for a moment, listening to the sounds of shuffling about and even some odd buzzing before there was a signature 'click', indicating the door had been unlocked. Myddin answered the door and the page bowed before him.

"Milord Wizard," the boy said. "Lord Larimar Orkney has just arrived from his home. He brings grave news. The king requests your presence immediately."

Myddin's own face was grim, but he nodded.

"Return ahead of me. I will be there momentarily," he answered.

"Yes, Milord."

C

"…This means they had agents lying in wait inland the whole time. They made their move the instant the coast was invaded. Morgan's treachery knows no limits," Arthur the 3rd growled.

The Monarch squeezed the handrests of his throne so tightly he might've ripped them off if it was a seat of lesser construct. Queen Mary reached over and placed her hand on her husband's. He calmed and relaxed his muscles immediately as he turned to her.

"Yes, My King," Larimar replied, bowing before him.

He looked into the eyes of his king with his remaining eye, concern written on his face. Larimar adjusted the eyepatch over his long since lost left eye to a more comfortable position on his face.

"I fear this was conspiracy in the planning for a very long time," the lord then added.

"Everything Morgan does is conspiracy a very long time in planning," Arthur muttered.

He stood and descended the red carpeted stairwell down to the Larimar.

"Rise, my friend. I will call an emergency council immediately. We must respond to both threats before the same fate befalls your home and Birmingham at large," he said.

"Yes, My Liege," Larimar replied, starting to stand.

Arthur paused, looking at him a moment.

"Where is your son?" he asked. "Did you not bring him with you?"

"Not to Camelot," Larimar replied, wiping his long black hair from his face. "I've sent Nephrite to London, where he will be safe for the time being."

"Good man," Arthur replied.

A side door into the throne room opened, and the page entered, bowing.

"Your Majesty," the page announced. "Myddin will be down momentarily."

"Very good," Arthur said, nodding. "Now I need you to perform another ask."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the boy replied.

"Go and fetch my knights," Arthur said. "I am calling an emergency. Do not concern yourself with telling Myddin. I will do that, myself, when he arrives. Now go, quickly! Make haste like the Second Coming was upon us!"

"Yes, My King," the boy replied with another bow and left them.

They could hear his footsteps retreat down the hall, towards the guest room. Arthur turned back Larimar, grim-faced.

"This may be the greatest battle of our time, and damn Morgan la Fey for bringing it down on us. She must be stopped, whatever the cost."

 **Next Chapter:** Princess Serena


	4. Chapter 1: Princess Serena

**Celestial Warrior Moon:**

 **Memories of the Silver Millennium**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any _Sailor Moon_ related properties _._ _Sailor Moon_ is the property of Toei Animation and Naoko Takeuchi. This is a fan work created to celebrate the work. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Cover image by _SomeoftheFame_. Thank you so, so much, man.

 **Author's Note:**

With regrets, I announce that this chapter is still not completely due to the sheer length the world-building its requiring of me. However, I feel that far too much time has passed it is between chapter updates. I apologize for allowing this fic to go dead again, so I'm posting what I can as of right now.

 **Chapter One**

 **Princess Serena:**

 **Life in the Palace**

Evening, Digamma 2nd, Lunar Palace, Lunar District, the Moon Kingdom, 9980 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 982 A.D., May 22nd, Earth reckoning

"…And they say Siggurd the Dragon-Slayer still roams the Earth to this very day," Celine finished.

With that, she closed the leather-bound storybook and looked over to her much younger cousin. Serena was yawning, and rubbing her eyes. She sat at the head of her bed covered up to her waist in the blankets.

"But what about…" Serena was interrupted by another yawn.

"Cover your mouth," Celine scolded her.

"Sorry," Serena said sheepishly. "But what about Brunhilde? Will she and Siggurd ever get back together?"

Celine shrugged.

"No one knows," she answered.

Celine stood, straightening her gown as she did, and then walked over to Serena's bedside dresser. She put the book back in its place on the shelf right under the desktop before turning to the large window looking out on the kingdom. The Earth's blues and greens were in full view that evening.

"I don't like that story, then," Serena pouted, crossing her arms. The little six-year-old 'humphed' and turned away from Celine. "Why can't you read me more stories with happy endings."

"Variety helps the imagination," Celine replied, turning towards Serena with a slight smile.

"Besides, the sooner you learn 'happier ever after' isn't always possible, the better," the Warrior mentally added.

She faced her Princess fully again, arms folded behind her back.

"Can you read me another?" Serena asked.

With a glance at the clock, Celine shook her head.

"No, its a few minutes past our bedtime as it is," she answered.

"Aww!" Serena whined.

"The Princess should not whine," Celine scolded, waggling her finger at her.

Serena pouted in response to that.

"That will not get you your way, either," Celine said firmly, crossing her arms.

With that, both cousins stared each other down, unwilling to bend. Eventually, though, Serena cracked a smile and giggled.

"Alright, alright, I wield," she said, lying down, and allowing herself to sink into the mattress and pillow.

"Good," Celine replied.

She walked over and pulled the covers up to Serena's neck.

"Goodnight, now, Little One," Celine said, and kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep well. Tomorrow, you have a big day."

"I know…" Serena answered drearily. "I have to listen to a land dispute between a couple of old fogie…"

A stern glare from Celine told her to reword that.

"Respectable elders," Serena corrected.

"What am I going to do with you?" Celine asked, crossing her arms again.

"Take me out to eat ice cream tomorrow, instead?"

"Nice try, but no. You _are_ going to sit in at the meeting," Celine said firmly.

"But I'm the Princess, you have to do what I say," Serena pouted.

"Not yet, I don't," Celine replied. "Your mother says you will begin sitting in on royal sessions once a week, and so you shall."

"But it's boring! Why can't I play like I can hear normal kids on the other side of the palace walls?" Serena begged.

"Because you're not normal," Celine answered, almost solemnly. "You will never be normal."

"It's not fair," Serena moaned.

"I used to say the same thing."

Serena looked up at her bodyguard, stunned. She was expecting Celine to say something to the effect of "Life's not fair. So deal with it." Instead, her older blonde responded with understanding.

"The life of the noble or royal is not an easy one," Celine told her softly. "It will never be, either. I'm sorry, Serena, but you have duties to prepare to inherit. Having a lot of playtime and friends to laugh with was never in your future."

However, then she leaned to whisper in Serena's ear.

"But if you're good tomorrow, I'll see about getting you outside the palace walls to meet the sources of those voices you sometimes hear right outside," she promised.

"You mean it?" Serena's face lit up with excitement.

"On my life," Celine said with a nod. "Now, it's time for you to sleep."

"Yes, Cousin," Serena replied.

With that, Celine turned to leave. She was about to flick off the light when Serena's quiet little voice reached her again.

"Can Abby come?"

Oh, yes, the little maid that was one of the only other children in the entire palace, and thus, the Princess's de fact playmate. At least until then three-year-old Luna was a bit older.

"I will certainly try, but no promises. She has to keep the palace tidy with the other maids," Celine said, and turned out the lights before leaving the Princess to her slumber.

When the room was shrouded in darkness, Serena looked over at balcony through the glass doors to her right and at the Earth beyond. It appeared as a big mass in the starry sky. The little princess felt a twinge of disappointment, because she liked looking down on the planet surface with its many colors.

"Wanna go there someday," Serena thought dreamily before turning over onto her and going to sleep.

As all nights were for the protected princess, it was peaceful and her slumber was uninterrupted. Hours passed, and that sleep remained unbroken, even by the night terrors of her cousin, which could not be heard from her bedroom. Two doors down from the girl, Celine was tossing and turning in a fretful vision of terror as she often did. Serena didn't hear the guard go in to check on her older cousin when she screamed. Nor did she hear Celine throttle and nearly end the poor man when he roused her from the height of horror she was experiencing. No, things had been put in place to assure restful nights for the princess.

The following morning, Serena was in her best little white gown and seated beside her mother overseeing the royal court. She sat perfectly poised with her hands in her lap, shoulders squared and posture upright. Eyes ahead and intent as she listened to the land dispute. It was between a lanky old man and a small, dainty old woman.

"…and as you can see, Your Majesty, the property charter clearly shows this is where her land ends and yet she still allowed her cows to graze on my fields," the old man argued, pointing at a spot on the holographic image.

"I bought that half-acre off your father a hundred years back!" the old woman butted in and held up her own mobile device. She pressed a button and another image of the same section of land popped up. "See?! Clear as day, I was at the edge of my property!"

"Now see here! I never heard of any such transaction and it was never loaded into our archives!"

"Yeah, well, Gaffer always was an absent-minded booby! Probably forgot!"

"Please, both of you, remain civil. You're in the presence of the Queen."

By now, Serena's eyes were crossed with boredom. At first, she thought it a tender mercy when her mother ordered a survey of the land and thought that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, what followed after was a mountain of paperwork mother and daughter had to begin signing. By the end of it, penning in the royal signature was a near numb, automated motion. By the time they were finished and the disagreeing elders left with each a sealed envelope, Serena's arm was cramped and sore. She tried shaking it out to be rid of the discomfort.

Celine glanced down at her younger cousin in the corner of her eye and hid a tiny smirk of amusement.

"Poor thing, but at least she's bearing with it just as I asked," she thought as Serena discreetly shook out a cramp in her wrist under the table. "Now to make sure she has a clear spot in her schedule for contact with some children her own age."

Celine hadn't quite had the time to hold up her end of the deal just yet, but she was working on it. It was midday when they signed the last paper, just in time for mother and daughter to go for lunch. They sat in a mostly empty grand dining hall. Serenity was at one end of a long white table in a room where trappings all adorned the same coloration. Serena was to her left in the next seat down. The sight of the pair off in one corner of an otherwise barren room would have passed for comical. Celine was absent for the moment, off on an errand.

"Where's father? He was gone for the whole argument between those farmers," Serena asked.

"Your father is attending to the war down on the planet surface, dear," Serenity replied, taking a small bite of her salad.

"The war?" Serena asked, with interest. "The one the British are having against the Dark Kingdom?"

"That's the one," Serenity answered, staring off contemplatively.

"What's so important about that one when Celine says there are hundreds of wars on Earth?" Serena asked.

"Because, sweetie, if they get a hold of King Arthur III's Golden Blade, that just might be the foothold they need to take control of the Earth and then come for us," Serenity answered softly.

"But we have the Silver Crystal to protect us. They could never get us up here!" Serena proclaimed, grinning cheerily. However, when her mother's only immediate reply was a forlorn stare ahead, the girl's demeanor dropped. "…Right?"

Before Serenity could recover and reply, the door opened.

"How are my girls today?"

"Daddy!" Serenity cried, almost standing up in her chair.

"Serena, sit down!" Serenity scolded.

"Ahem," Serena coughed uncomfortably, settling back in her seat. "Forgive me."

Chiron chuckled at his daughter, walked up, and placed a hand on her head.

"What are we going to do with you?" he asked fondly.

"Hello, my Shining Knight," Serenity greeted her husband, rising from her chair properly.

"My Shining Moonlight," Chiron answered and the two kissed.

Serena made an exaggerated display with being repulsed, but that didn't stop them. After a moment, Chiron turned the child.

"Why don't you go find Abby and go play in the garden for awhile, Little Moonlight," he suggested.

Her face lit up immediately.

"Can I really?!" she cried excitedly.

Serenity looked like she wanted to refuse, but she could tell Chiron just wanted to speak with her alone.

"Very well, but don't get your dress dirty," she said.

"Yes, Mother," Serena answered and hopped down from her chair.

"Excuse me," the little princess added with a bow and then left them.

Serenity turned back to Chiron, curious as to what he needed to speak to her about.

"Is there news from Myddin?" she asked.

The smile faded from Chiron's face, but it didn't look altogether grave.

"Morgan la Fey continues to batter the British Isles every chance she gets, but there is good news," he replied.

"Nothing new there, but those people," Serenity said with a sense of mourning. "Any figures for the potential casualties this time?"

"They will eradicate whole villages this time if allowed," Chiron replied grimly. "Whole villages could burn."

Serenity put a hand to her heart as she hung her head, sighing in anguish.

"Those poor people…" she again murmured. "What good news can there possibility be?"

"Arthur's council has already seen through their enemy's ploy. If they move quickly, they can minimize casualties with only a little help from our agents in the shadows."

"Should we be risking giving them this much aid, though?" Serenity asked. "They might start to catch on."

"We'll just give them a little push in the right direction, as we always do. In the end, they'll still have to win the deciding battle of this war on their own," Chiron replied.

"…If they can," Serenity muttered.

"We can't fight their battle for them. You know that," Chiron said. "The first Serenity took an oath to allow the Earth's people to evolve and progress as naturally as possible. The scenario down all the generations…"

"I _know_ the oath," Serenity cut in. "I took it, myself, when I became queen. I just hate sitting on the sidelines while The Entity wages its war from D-Point. I'm all for allowing Earth to progress on its own and one day welcoming it into an alliance when they're technologically able to come up here, but there is nothing natural about this ongoing war they're in."

"Forgive me," Chiron said, lightly hugging her. "Forget myself sometimes."

"What can be done? We've tried retaking D-Point. If I could just go down there, myself, with the Crystal, I could…"

She trailed off. She knew she'd just be making herself a target down there and she had little experience using the Silver Crystal as a weapon. And the one time she had, it had nearly killed her six years ago when she banished Nehellenia.

"They have the Golden Blade and besides that, Myddin's with them," Chiron reassured her.

"I know…" Serenity said. "I hope that's enough…"

* * *

"Serena, this isn't funny! Where did you go?!" Abby cried, running madly through the rows of rose bushes.

She was on a winding stone path that led through the entire garden. It twisted, turned, and split in multiple directions giving visitors a solid path to take while exploring the palace's selection of flora.

The princess poked her head out from one of the leafy structures, giggling, and then darted out of her hiding place and into another quickly. She was ignorant of the fact that her successful disappearing act was anything but humorous to the young maid who scrambled through the garden in a dead panic.

Serena crouched down and squat-walked under an opening into the center of the next bush. It was almost like a little cave in her point of view. The branches, leaves, and white flowers were almost enough to blot out all outside light.

"I could stay in here forever before she'd find me," Serena giggled to herself.

She could faintly hear the other girl crying her name, but she stayed right where she was. She wasn't going to give up her perfect hiding spot for the world. She nestled into the grass left untrimmed due to being under the bush and laid over on her side to get comfortable. Curled up, she began to doze off almost immediately as she let out a little yawn. She was faintly aware of the continued calling of her name through the haze over her head, but wasn't catching that other voices were joining in with Abby at this point and soon she lost all concept of time.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Serena yelped and bolted upright into a sitting position.

"Huh?! HUH?!" she cried, looking all around, trying to grasp where she was.

She saw the greenage and remembered where she'd ended up and why she there. Then her gaze focused in on the angry face of Celine, poking into a hole in the canopy around her. She could see Celine had parted the leaves and branches with her hands, and boy did she look furious.

"Come out of there this instant," Celine's voice was at a normal volume and measured, but the emotion was icy rage.

"Uh…" was all Serena could manage as she froze on the spot.

"I said, COME OUT!" Celine's voice slammed into her ear canals, breaking the spell.

Serena crawled out of the brush with haste and then climbed to her feet before the older blonde. She looked up at the woman nearly double her size with guilt and a little fear. She studied Celine's body language for a moment to gauge the severity of the situation. Her arms were crossed and her stance was rigid. Not good.

"I've done it this time," Serena thought, gulping.

Celine raised her head to call out.

"Everything's alright. I found her!"

Her voice carried all over the garden and Serena could hear several voices answer back in relief. Then Celine turned back to her, and Serena felt the need to defend herself.

"It was just hide and seek. Nothing bad happened, so there's no problem," she insisted.

"Small One, disappearing from sight so completely that we can't find you, then staying hidden and not answering our call is a problem," Celine replied firmly. "A big problem. We will be returning to the study where you will be getting ahead of your training to be the next queen for the remainder of the day."

Serena pouted, and was about to complain when Celine spoke again.

"You can whine and complain if you want me to cancel your trip to the city to play like a normal child for once."

Serena remained quiet and hung her head.

"Very good. Now come along."

* * *

Midafternoon, Epsilon 10th, Lunar Palace, Lunar District, the Moon Kingdom, 9982 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 984 A.D., May 2nd, Earth reckoning

"Blah blah blah something something Queen Serenity the 1st blah blah founding the empire…"

The words just seemed to run together to Serena after a while as she listened to Celine drone on. Names, dates, events, incidents, war, and everything else just seemed to blur regardless of how hard she tried to pay attention, and that was the way of her lessons under Celine and other tutors for years to come.

As time marched on, Serena grew and matured into a young lady, gradually losing her baby fat along the way. She was eight now, and she did not remain alone in the castle for long. In time, Luna, the child a few years younger than herself grew up enough to become a new companion as Abby took on more and more responsibly. They often played in the garden together, but never hide 'n' seek again. Oh, boy, never again. Serena had learned her lesson well.

"Checkmate! I win again!" the then seven year old Luna giggled.

Serena was staring at her king in an inescapable position. Then she groaned and hung her head.

"I wield. How do you keep winning?" she asked.

"Father plays this with me all the time," Luna answered. "Want to go again? Best 12 out of 13?"

Serena could have strangled the innocently smiling little black-haired girl. She sighed and got from her chair.

"I'm a bit thirsty. I think there was a pitcher and some glasses left on the table in the dining room," Serena said.

"Yes, My Princess!" Luna said, springing from her seat, ready to serve.

"I will get it," Serena said. "I'm going for a walk, anyway."

"Then I'll come," Luna offered.

Serena thought about for a moment, then smiled and nodded. The young heir exited the room with the little maid following her close behind in proper fashion. They walked down the hall towards the dining room, but as they neared, they began to hear an unfamiliar voice humming a song. Serena stopped a listened a dozen or steps from the door, gauging the source before she pressed on.

"Why have you stopped?" Luna asked curiously.

"Do you recognize that voice?" Serena said, cupping a hand around her ear to listen.

"No, but it's definitely an old man," Luna replied, and moved for the door.

"Wait! Mother and Father could be…!"

Before she could say "having a meeting with the man," Luna had opened and the door and shouted a hello from the hallway.

"Luna!" Serena chided her for her laps in manners.

"Oh! Hello, little one!" the voice of an elderly man replied with a friendly tone.

Serena sighed and walked into view of the door joining Luna, doing a curtsy.

"Forgive little Luna, she's till new to palace life," she apologized.

To her surprise, her mother and father weren't there. It was only the bearded old man sitting at the table going through a bunch of old scrolls. He had one in his lap with two spread in front of him on the table with the rest neatly stacked in a box sitting on the floor at his feet.

"Ah, Princess Serena," the old man smiled. "How do you do on this fine day? Are you finding palace life acceptable?"

"It has its moments," Serena replied.

Luna curtsied as well, mimicking Serena and desperately trying to remember all the rules of conduct.

"Hello again, sir," Luna said, stepping forward. "My name's Luna. Can I be of service?"

"And I am Myddin," he answered. "And I've been assisted, thank you."

He was about to say something else when Serena's look caught his eye. Her eyes were large and on him.

"You're Myddin? THE Myddin?!" she gasped.

"Well, I'm _**a**_ Myddin, as I understand it's not an uncommon Lunarian name," he replied, with a crooked grin.

Serena responded by dashing across the room and taking a seat next to him at the long dining table.

"But you're my mother's advisor. The Lunarian who's allowed to live on the planet surface!" she said excitedly.

Myddin grinned again and leaned towards her.

"And you want to know what its like," he said.

"More than anything! I've spent most of my life stuck in this palace apart from public appearances with mother," Serena said. But then she caught herself and looked down, a little embarrassed. She added: "But you're busy with official business from my mother, of course, so I shouldn't bother you."

Myddin nodded his head in understanding, contemplatively looking to the side at nothing in particular. Then with a twinkle in his eyes and another grin, he said:

"You're right. I am a little busy poring over some muster old books about what we learned about The Entity in the North," he said.

Serena hummed, nodding. Myddin's smile only deepened.

"Oh, hell with it!" he suddenly said and rolled the scroll in his lap shut. Serena and Luna gasped, covering their mouths at the profanity.

"Language, Mr. Myddin!" Serena cried.

"Now you never mind that, dear Princess. You want to know about the Earth? Now I could tell you, but it would be much easier to show you," he told her, giving her nose a quick poke.

"But how could you do that? I'm not allowed to leave," Serena asked.

"I've already done it. Look around," he replied.

Serena didn't even have the chance to blink at him in confusion before Luna cried out, making her whip her head around towards her younger companion.

"Ah! Where are we? We're not in the palace anymore!" Luna whimpered, standing in the middle of the room shaking.

"Huh?" Serena uttered and then looked at her surroundings again for the first time.

She gasped and jumped up from her chair, knocking it over. Indeed, they were no longer in the Moon Palace. Their new trappings were much of square or rectangle stones and all the furniture made of wood. The table Myddin now sat at, the chairs, the bookshelf, and the frame of the bed in the corner, all carved from trees. And the windows lacked glass, instead being wide open portals to the outside.

"Wha? How?" Serena exclaimed.

Myddin broke out in, making both girls look at him incredulously.

"My dears, of course we're still in the Moon Palace!" he laughed.

"Huh?!" Serena and Luna stared at him in shock.

He chuckled as he stood and gestured around.

"This is simply a projection of my quarters down in the Camelot castle," he explained.

"Oh!" Serena breathed a sigh of relief at not actually being abducted right out of her home.

With that, she took a much more thorough look at Myddin's life down on the planet surface. Worn tomes lined the bookshelf and the room was full of outdated chemistry equipment and geographical measuring gear.

"People really are far behind us down here," she said.

"Indeed," Myddin nodded.

Then he walked to the center of the room, gesturing for both girls to join him. He pointed down at the floor.

"Now then," he said, and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, they were back in the Moon Palace, but the spot in the floor their attentions had been directed to changed. It was as if a portal had opened up and they were looking down on the Earth from about 20 or so feet in the air. They saw Camelot Castle and the Castle Town that surrounded it.

"This is taken from old recordings taken from our serveilance drones years ago," Myddin told them.

"Wow, a castle of stone! Rooves made of… of, that pokey yellow stuff!" Serena exclaimed.

Myddin chuckled and leaned in to whisper to her.

"They call it straw," he said.

Luna, meanwhile, looked around in silent awe at a world and lifestyle not their own. No cars, no pavement, no crystal and iron buildings, just dirt or stone roads, forests that went on forever into the distance.

"Is another anything else you would like to see?" Myddin asked.

"Yes!" Serena and Luna cried, forgetting themselves.

"I heard about places made of sand. I think Momma called them "deserts"!" Luna exclaimed.

"What about the endless bad water?" Serena asked. "The, uh…. Ocean? I see it from all the way up here all the time, but what's it look like up close?"

"The ocean, and then the desert? Very well!"

With a wave of his hand, their view over the Earth began to move, speeding through trees, over and under hills, across the countryside, wide up fields. It seemed as though he was controlling where it went directly, but really, he was just switching between feeds to go to the homes the Princess and her maid had requested. Along the way, they saw many things pass under their vantage. Bands or armies on horseback, more villages, castles, and strongholds passed them by. Until at last they found themselves at the bay, and it was unlike any dock Serena or Luna had ever seen. Both had seen Lunarian loading docks on elevated platforms with hovering ships arriving or leaving them man times, but these Earthling walkways were made of wood and actually on the shore of the great sea with ships of made from the same material usable only on the surface of the water. And instead of being powered by the Silver Crystal and levitated with Antigravity engines, they had sails to move them on the wind.

The image moved out to the open sea while his audience gasped in awe. Once he had taken it out far enough, he stopped and turned the vantage to look to the side instead of down and turned it all the way around, allowing both girls to see there was no land in sight in any direction. Just the blues the ocean and sky, uninterrupted.

"It's more magical than I imagined," Serena said heavily.

"We're looking gazing upon the surface," Myddin said. "Now, them, let's look below."

He snapped his fingers, loading up a different recording, this one beneath the waves. They scene began with a clownfish darting through some white coral before it moved upward to watch a school of silvery fish swimming in close proximity to each other. The girls watched with interest at specimen after specimen was examined by the drone. They leaned in, staring at these alien underwater creatures until a large dark form passed in front of the drone's vantage.

"What was that?" Serena asked.

"Just watch," Myddin replied.

The dark form turned and swam away into a full view. It was a large, sleek creature with a dorsal fin that curved back towards the tail, ending in a point. Then it turned back towards the robot recording and closed, opening a mouth revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. The girls let out sounds of alarm and backed up a step.

"Don't be afraid," Myddin said encouragingly.

That was easier said than done when the beast turned to get a look at whatever was recording. The eye was emotional and dead, like a doll's eyes. They couldn't even be sure what they was looking at was alive, that is, until it suddenly darted away at a nearby fish. Its jaws opened wide before clamping down on its victims, grabbing it its body from the side. Then with a vicious chomp, the head and tail that momentarily were sticking out of the sides its mouth were bitten, leaving them floating around in a red mist of blood that poured out from the wounds. Quickly chewing the main body, the shark swam away.

"AH! EW!" Serena cried, covering her eyes. "Mr. Myddin, why would you show us that?!"

"Because where there is beauty in nature, there is also danger," he replied in a soft tone. "And it must be witnessed and respected."

"I don't think I like this anymore," Luna mumbled.

"Perhaps you're right. We've spent too much time observing the oceans. You said you wanted to see one of the Earth's deserts? Behold," he said.

The view switched to the grand dunes of a barren region, far, far from the ocean. The recording turned clear around, again demonstrating that it went clear to the horizon in all directions as the ocean had. Then it began to move over it as the other recording swept over the British countryside. They saw many an oasis, caravans either on the move or taking shelter at an outpost. They saw the cities completely unlike the English villages from before. The people in this region were different, too, wearing completely different clothes that covered their faces to protect them from the relentless heat of the sun and most of them had much darker skin. The odd pale-skinned person here and there stuck out in any crowd they were part of. The view also moved over fields of long, tan grass before switching elsewhere to the occasional jungle.

"I don't know many of these places from my studies," Serena said. "I recognize a few things being from the Middle East, and… oh! Look, look, Luna the Pyramids Celine told us about!"

"And there's the Sphinx!" Luna added, pointing excitedly.

"Wow! I've only ever seen it in pictures. How close does the drone go?" Serena asked.

"Not too close," Myddin replied. "We couldn't allow any of the locals to spot it."

He glanced up at a menu of clips only visible to him, and smirked.

"Ah! Here's something interesting. Either of you even seen snow before?" he asked.

Both girls shook their heads with excitement. Myddin smiled and was about to bring up a sweep on the frozen North, but a voice rang out, stopping him.

"What are you doing?!" Queen Serenity shouted from the door.

All three looked toward her in surprise, but Serena recovered quickly and ran towards her.

"Mother! Mother!" she cried excitedly. "I want to go down to Earth!"

Serenity looked up from her to glare at Myddin for a second before returning her attention to her daughter. Myddin just shrugged innocently while Luna stood beside him with a finger in her mouth, looking uncertain about this development. Serenity got down on her knees to look Serena in the eye and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Serena, now listen to me," Serenity said. "Earth is a very dangerous place, where our enemy lives. That's no place for the Moon Princess. You have to stay up here, where you're safe."

"Where it's boring!" Serena protested.

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady. You are not going to Earth. I will allow you to see more of the planet's wonders now that Myddin has given you a glimpse," Serenity said sternly, glancing up at him harshly again. "But you can never go there."

"But what we just didn't tell anyone and I went in... uh, in cognitive?" Serena stuttered, trying to think of the right word.

"Incognito," Serenity said, and then shook her head. "No, my dear. No. I can't allow it."

"Why not?!"

"Don't raise your voice with me! And you told you, its too dangerous," Serenity repeated.

"Aw, but mother, you barely let me out of the palace as it is! I want to see mountains, mother! Real rivers that aren't powered by my machines! A real forest! Deserts! The ocean! I wanna see it all!"

"YOU WILL NEVER GO DOWN TO THE PLANET SURFACE WHILE I LIVE!" Serenity roared, shocking Serena into silence.

Behind the girl, Myddin also winced and Luna retreated behind, hiding herself behind his robe which she clutched for dear life. Serenity gulped, unsure of where the outburst came from, and was immediately regretting it. Serena stood before her mother quivering as tears threatened to fall. Then she let out a cry and pulled out of her mother's grip.

"Serena, wait," Serenity said, reaching for her.

"No!" Serena shouted and ran past her.

"Serena, get back here!" Serenity ordered, standing up. "I'm your mother and I know what's best for you!"

"No, you just don't want me to have any fun!" Serena yelled over her shoulder before disappearing into the hall.

Serenity sighed as she listened to both the sounds of her girl's sobbing and pattering feet faded out.

"Ah! Princess, wait for me!" Luna cried and took chase.

She briefly bowed before Serenity before passing her.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty!" she said before running out the door as well.

Serenity let out a weary sigh again before turning sharply to Myddin.

"Why did you show her that footage?!" she demanded.

"She displays a desire to learn," Myddin replied, affably. "I am a giver of knowledge to anyone who asks it of me."

"You are forbidden from showing her anything else without my permission," Serenity said sternly. "You know how dangerous it is down there. You practically live there for your duty. If she were ever to slip out and manage to work a transporter well enough to get Earth-side, Great Mother only knows what could happen to her."

"Yes, she could be robbed by brigands, or sold at the market. Murdered, eaten, cursed," Myddin affirmed. "But she will one day watch Earth as you have. Is it so bad that she see some of the beauty that planet holds before seeing all the evil it can muster?"

"It is when it creates so a strong desire to go there," Serenity answered.

"Is it so bad to go down there, though?" Myddin inquired on her, stroking his beard. "You put so much effort into guiding and guarding a planet you've never been to, having your agents operating in the shadows instead of coming out to say hello. Perhaps you would like to see it up close, for deal this time?"

"No, Myddin," Serenity adamantly replied. "I have a kingdom to run, and have no time to take vacation to smell some flowers, and neither will she when she grows up."

"A pity," Myddin said with some lament in his tone.

Serenity narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to him.

"And I must reiterate my commandment, Myddin. No more footage of Earth that hasn't been reviewed and cleared by either myself, or my husband. Am I clear, Gray Wanderer?"

"Crystal," Myddin said, with a bow. "I am Myddin, ever at your service, and I meant no wrong in my actions. Forgive me if you feel I've overstepped my bounds, Your Majesty."

Serenity's features began to soften and she sighed, for the third time. She lowered her head, staring down at her hands.

"Oh, Myddin, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just... worried about me. Ever since that night, the night of her birth, I haven't felt we were safe. Not even here in the palace."

"I understand, dear Serenity," he said.

"I can't lose her, Myddin. I can't lose her..."

"I know."

* * *

"It's not fair."

Serena sat on her bed with her legs drawn up to her chin.

"Momma ruins everything with her stupid rules," she muttered.

"There, there," Luna said optimistically, sitting on the edge of the bed behind her. "She had good reasons for everything. She doesn't want the bad lady to come back and take your away."

"The 'bad lady' got into the castle. I'm not safe anywhere if that's the problem," Serena grumbled, and looked over her shoulder at her maid.

"But here, you're always near Lady Celine, Her Majesty Your Mother, and Lord Chiron," Luna answered.

"I _know_ ," Serena replied withingly. "I'm never more than a few rooms away ready to be ordered around and strung along through the same halls and trappings I see all the time. I'd like just to be able to get away from them for a while, for once."

"It's not all that bad, is it?" Luna asked.

"Yes. No. I don't l know," Serena answered, shrugging.

When she noticed Luna was working on something in her lap, she raised a curious brow.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Hmm-MMM!" Luna hummed in tune in response, and then held up her creation.

It was a flower crown.

"Tada! I plucked them from a vase while I was chasing you back here!" Luna proudly proclaimed.

"Are you really a maid?" Serena blanched. "Whoever potted and arranged those is going to be angry."

Luna just hummed again and placed the crown on her Princess's head.

"Here! You looked like you needed a gift to cheer you up," she chirped.

And Serena couldn't help but smile in return.

"Thank you," she said, straightening the flower crown slightly.

"I will get down to the planet surface someday," she thought, but gave no indication of her inner thoughts.

If she was going to escape to Earth someday, not even Luna could know.

"I'll not mention it to mother again," she mentally instructed herself. "Today has to be forgotten as much as possible. She'll think I don't want to go down to the planet anymore, maybe."

Serena's desire to leave the Moon Kingdom to visit Earth never left her, no matter how much time passed. She was careful never to mention it again, though. Her mother had to at least put the encounter out of her mind in order for Serena to one day slip away for a visit.

Time passed, but not even the distraction of other new additions into her life could detour her. Those changes came in the form of the four new Celestial Warriors as they arrived at the castle. Not all at once, of course. They arrived and were sworn in one at a time. First came Lares fon Mercury, then Harmonia fon Venus, Adrestia fon Mars II, and finally, Lita fon Jupiter.

Each first meeting with them was as different as the girls were from each other. Her first was Lares fon Mercury immediately after she was sworn in.

Midmorning, Zeta 4th, Lunar Palace, Lunar District, the Moon Kingdom, 9982 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 984 A.D., June 21st, Earth reckoning

She was still eight years old when Lars arrived. Serena was seated by her mother's side on a small throne built for her when the 16 year old bluette arrived with her entourage. Lares walked into the throne room in a knee length Sea Blue tunic dress with short sleeves. On the upper right of the chest near the shoulder, she wore the emblem of Mercury. The tunic was tied at the waist with a sash of a slightly darker shade of blue with gold trim, which had a buckle bearing the symbol of Mercury. She had light blue leggings and leather boots of matching color to her dress.

Despite being of noble birth and rearing, Lares had trouble maintaining a composed look when she looked on the royals and Duchess Celine. The throne itself was on a raised platform with steps leading up to it. The Queen sat in the center on her throne with her husband on her right and Serena on her left. When Lares reached the end of the red carpet and sat on her knees, the ceremony by which she was sworn in begun, conducted by the Queen. Serenity had stood and explained in length the responsibilities that came with being one of the Celestial Warriors and how they extended even beyond just protecting the royal family.

"You understand? You are officially a member of our military as well now,"Serenity said, finishing up.

"I understand fully, Your Majesty," Lares replied, bowing where she sat. "And I swear to fulfill my duties to you, Lord Chiron, Princess Serena, Duchess Celine, and all my brothers-and-sisters-in-arms to the very best of my abilities."

"Very well. You may rise," Serenity told her.

Lares stood, glad to be off her knees, and looked up first at her Queen, and then Celine as she took center stage at the base of the throne steps. The older woman's icy blue eyes bore into Lares' softer blues. The younger woman felt daunted by her.

"Lady Lares fron Mercury," Celine addressed her.

"Yes, my Captain," Lares answered.

"Your duties as the Celestial Warrior of Mercury have been made clear to you?" Celine asked sternly.

"Yes, I am to protect our Princess, our Queen, the Silver Crystal, our kingdom, and all the people in it from any threats," Lares replied, reciting the memorized summery all Celestial Warriors had to learn. "Whether those threats be from within or from outside. I am to uphold the law and our sacred tenets to the best of my abilities."

Celine nodded in approval once at the perfect recital.

"Very well, kneel," she ordered.

Lares obeyed, getting down on her knees again. She put her arms stiffly at her sides and bowed her head. Celine unsheathed her sword and held out in front.

"Lares, Celestial Warrior of the Planet Mercury, do you swear to serve with Honor, Courage, and Valor, up to and including laying down your own life in the line of duty?" Celine said.

"I do," Lares answered.

"Very well. By the authority vested in me as Leader of the Celestial Warriors, I dub thee, Warrior Mercury," Celine announced. Then she touched each of Lares' shoulders with the flat of her blade. "Now rise."

Lares obeyed as Celine resheathed her ceremonial blade, and upon looking up at her new superior, she was suddenly backhanded across the face. Serenity and Chiron both winced at the "thrack!" sound it made but said nothing. They had both already been present for the swearing in of each of the girl's predecessors as well as Celine's. They were familiar with the custom. Serena, however, gasped and bolted up out of her throne, mouth agape.

"Serena, sit down," Serenity scolded her.

"But Cousin Celine just hit that girl for no reason!" Serena protested.

Lares, for her part, agreed with that assessment of what just happened. She held back a whimper as she stumbled back a step, holding her stinging cheek, and trying not to let the tears in the corners of her eyes fall. She also tried not to look too much like a wounded doe, but failed miserably. And there was no regret or mercy in her Captain's eyes.

"I _did_ have a purpose," Celine stated without turning to face Serena. Her cold eyes were on Lares the whole time, and it took the younger Warrior every bit of willpower she possessed not to shrink away. "That, Lady Lares, was so you would never forget."

"I-I definitely won't," Lares said unsteadily.

Then Celine about-faced and bowed to Serenity and Serena

"Now if it pleases Your Majesty, I would like to begin my evaluation of Mercury's skills," she said.

Serenity answered with a nod. Celine bowed, turned, and then stepped forward _not_ intending to go around the new Warrior Mercury. Lares was forced to take a quick step to the side to allow her Captain to pass and then fell in behind her like clockwork.

Chiron leaned forward in his seat a bit, looking to Serena.

"You should go with them," he told her.

Serena looked at her father curiously.

"You should see how your Warriors fight firsthand," he father explained.

"May I?" Serena asked, turning her mother.

"Of course," Serenity replied, and nodded towards the departing Warriors. "Go on. I think you will find it enlightening and stimulating."

"Yes, mother! Love you," Serena said and then bowed before briskly walking after Celine and Lares.

Serenity smiled in amusement at how Serena had mastered maintaining a poised stance in spite of the speed with which she went.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent with Serena sitting on the sidelines watching Lares fon Mercury's intense skill evaluation. First was her base ability outside of her Celestial Gear. Celine and Serena found out pretty quickly that she was not a natural melee fighter or her constitution was on the low end even after a lifetime of preparation. Next both Warriors suited up and Celine tested how Lares had mastered water so far. A quick demonstration showed she had all the basic techniques of Warrior Mercury done pat, but that was it, as was to be expected since the girl hadn't had the Gear for more than week, at most.

In hindsight, when Serena recalled watching them, she would liken it to watching Lares get beaten like an anvil under the hammer. And Celine was the hammer. It was a side of her dear cousin she hadn't seen before. It frightened Serena a little bit to watch Celine push the fledgling Warrior to the point of almost panic and then rage. It was something she would never forget.

Serena winced and closed her eyes briefly as Mercury was violently bore to the ground. She'd landed on her side and lied there gasping in an almost panic as she stared up Moon in fear. The Duchess removed her mask, showing Mercury her face. The harp had fallen several feet away.

"Get up!" Celine shouted at her.

Mercury was curled into a tight ball, staring up at her in fear. This only seemed to anger Warrior Moon, who narrowed her eyes disdainfully and bared her clenched teeth.

"I gave you an order!" she shouted at the girl, making her curl up more tightly.

"Tch!" Celine snarled. "Pathetic. This is how the Mercuries trained their potential heirs to act under pressure from an opponent?"

"You-you're not like any s-sparring partner I've ever had," Mercury whimpered.

"Mores the shame," Celine answered bluntly.

She reached down suddenly, making Mercury recoil, but she was quick and grabbed hold of her wrist tightly. Then she yanked upwards, forcing the girl to her feet. The Warrior of Water shrank back into herself nearly in tears.

"Stop that!" Moon ordered, releasing her wrist.

"Y-yes, Captain," Mercury replied in a broken voice, and wiped away the tears that threatened to fall.

The girl stood trembling while Moon was an unyielding statue. Then Celine began speaking to her a low voice, too quiet for Serena to hear. The little princess leaned forward and tried to hear was what being said between the two women, but couldn't no matter how hard she tried. One thing was clear, though. As Serena watched Mercury's expression, it went from frightened to shocked, to offended, to outright angry as they continued talking. Then Mercury spoke up loudly enough for everyone to hear

"Duchess…" she said, resisting the urge to clench her teeth. "Say what you want about me. I admit I performed poorly just now, but you _will_ leave my mother and sisters out of this."

"Oh?" Celine hummed and then leaned in, cupping Mercury's chin in her hand. "And what exactly are you going to do about it, little girl?"

"I'll… I'll…" Mercury stumbled as she tried to find the words.

Serena could see she wanted to say something defiant, but this was her Captain. Celine laughed at her and patted her on the head patronizingly. Chuckles from the guards floated into Mercury's ears from all sides. Mercury's face turned red from embarrassment and hot rage.

"Don't bite off more than you handle, little one," Celine said, and then turned to their audience. "What do you think men? Think Sir Edgar's grandmother would be a more suitable sparring partner for our new Mercury?"

The guards burst out into a round of loud guffaws and chortles making the bluette wince and shake with shame and fury even more. Serena, however, was mortified. Her eyes were wide and she was unable to look away. She had forgotten herself in Mercury's humiliation and her mouth hung open wide. As for Lares, that last comment and the near standing ovation it got had been the last straw. The anger ripped through Mercury and her fist flew.

BAM!

Silence set in as the platinum blonde stumbled back, clutching her chin in her gauntlet. Mercury now had her arms stiffly as her sides, inhaling and exhaling heavily from anger.

"I'll tell what you I'm going to do!" Mercury shouted firmly.

She reached her arm out to her side and her harp returned to her hand. Then she pointed at Celine.

"I'm going to pummel you with my element until you apologize for what you said about my mother and sisters!"

Celine lowered her hand from her chin, revealing the hideous bruise left by Mercury.

"Big words for such a fragile little thing," Celine chuckled at Mercury. "Can you back them up?"

"Try me. Try me again," Mercury answered resolutely.

And try her again, Celine did. Though the new recruit was now more aggressive and even willing to take from the decorative fountain on the far end of the yard for additional ammo, she still took the worst of it due to her inexperience. By the time Celine ended the evaluation, both parties were bothered in cuts and bruises.

As Celine and Lares left the training area, the off-duty guards disbanded, leaving the Princess and two Warriors. Moon and Mercury faced each other again in the ring and Celine again spoke to Lares to quietly for Serena to hear. However, this time whatever was said to her seemed to placate the girl's anger. With that, the two Warriors went their separate ways to recover and take a break from each other.

Most of the evening for Serena was spending continuing to learn under her mother to be queen and then she studied with Celine. However, shortly before bedtime, Serena happened to wander into the royal library looking for a storybook when she found Lares sitting on one of the love seats off in a quiet corner by herself, reading a book.

"Hello."

Lares looked up from her book as she adjusted her reading glasses. She smiled at the small princess as she approached.

"Oh," Lares uttered, setting her book aside on the desk next to the cough. She then got up and curtsied in the presence of royalty. "Good evening, Princess. You were so quiet, I didn't hear you coming."

Serena pouted, puffing out a cheek.

"Just Serena, please," she said. "At least when Celine's not around."

Lares couldn't help but giggle at that.

"Yes, I can't imagine your cousin would appreciate such a lapse in formalities," she said.

Serena groaned and rolled her eyes as she imagined how Celine would be reacting. She put her hands on her hips, wearing her best stern face. Serena then did a spot on impression of her older Celine.

"Lady Lares, you will address the Princess properly! And Serena! You should not encourage her! You both have very important positions to uphold and you are expected to behave accordingly!"

Lares covered her mouth in both her hands, trying hard not to laugh at the display, but ultimately failed and they were both soon laughing at the lowest volume they could so as not to disturb the royal librarians.

"That's very good," Lares said breathlessly, wiping a tear from her eye.

"So what were you reading?" Serena asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Lares responded dumbly at the sudden left turn the conversation had taken. "Oh, I was just catching up on some reading. Nothing you would be interested in."

Serena replied by sitting down on the other end of the love seat and settling in.

"Why not?" the little heir asked.

Lares chuckled awkwardly as she sat back down as well.

"Well, it's a little complicated… It's mostly just stuff only adults really think about," she explained.

"Like where babies come from?" Serena inquired.

"Not exactly…" Lares answered uncomfortably.

"Cause no one seems to want to tell me, but I've already figured it out," Serena boldly said.

"You… have?"

"First the man and the woman have to take their clothes off, and then the man puts his…"

"Alright, alright! I believe you!" Lares stopped her with upmost haste, waving her hands out in front. She sighed and her shoulders sagged. "Alright, I'll tell what I was reading."

She picked the book up again, showing the cover to Serena. _"Beginnings: Theories and Hypothesis about the Origins of the Universe, by Professor Fabulinus fon Clio._ "

"Is he the man who thinks there's one thing sitting in the universe's middle creating everything?" Serena asked.

"The same," Lares said. "You've heard the phrase, 'Great Mother'?"

"Yeah, but nobody can tell me who she is!" Serena exclaimed. "She must be real mad to be such a great mother and have no one remember who she is."

Lares giggled again.

"Well, in this case, it's related to her being the Mother of All," she said.

"Then how come she isn't called The All-Mother or somethin'?" Serena asked.

"She's full of questions. That's good," Lares thought with approval.

"I don't know why people name some things the way they do, but the phrase "Great Mother" comes from places long ago and far away. Our ancestors had already used it for ages when they all still lived in the Chronia galaxy and still they used it when they traversed the stars, homeless, in their Deep Space Arks. People who lived in Solar Systems and galaxies they visited used it and the Founders of the Moon Kingdom used it still when they built the original moon colony."

"So everyone except Earth uses it?" Serena asked.

"Well, we know many planets use it, but I'm sure there are other planets that have never heard it," Lares replied.

"Oh. Well, it's still weird that everyone yells 'Great Mother' when they're surprised or mad, but no one knows who they're talking about," Serena said. "So Dr. Fabulous fon Clio thinks one lady gave birth to the whole universe. That must have hurt."

"Professor Fabulinus fon Clio," Lares corrected, though there was an amused edge in her voice. "And he doesn't think it's a literal woman. He thinks that all life has a common source that many people liken womanly qualities to."

"Oh. So Great Momma isn't even a person? Is it alive?"

"Professor Clio thinks it might be more like a primordial form of life, just acting by instinct. He can't say for sure, but myths and legends about the Great Mother exist all over the cosmos and there are even ancient temples that were built to worship her or it. All clues point to The Great Mother being at the center of the universe."

"If they know The Great Momma lives in the center of the universe is, how come no one just goes to see?"

"No one's exactly sure where the real center of the universe is," Lares replied.

"Oh?" Serena asked.

"Yes, though according to a journal our ancestors wrote back when they were still wandering the cosmos, there were theories scientists were looking into, but I have no clue if any of them ever worked out," Lares said, shrugging. "We've had no contact with another inhabited solar system since the founding of the kingdom. We're so far out from another other inhabited Solar Systems that we're basically isolated."

"So we could be way behind everyone else?" Serena asked.

"In terms of researching the origins of the universe? Yes, possibly," Lares answered. "The last journal entry only offered the theories of the time. I wonder if they ever confirmed or defunct that myth about the Great Mother creating the Three Guardians."

"Does Dr. Clio know why the Great Mother would have created three guardians?" Serena then asked.

"No, but like I said, it was never confirmed if the three guardians _were_ created by The Great Mother," Lares answered.

"Mommy sure thinks she did!" Serena chirped. "But she also says they went missing after The Fall of the Chronia Galaxy. Momma said a lot of people think the three guardians are dead, but she's not so sure!"

"Well, it is true no one's heard from the three guardians for a very long, long time," Lares said, thoughtfully.

With that, Serena yawned.

"That's right, isn't it close to your bedtime?" Lares asked.

"Yes," Serena said, rubbing an eye. "It just came to find a story to read."

There was a pause between the two.

"Would you like me to read to you tonight?" Lares offered.

Serena smiled, a bit tiredly.

"Yes, please. I'd like that."

"Alright," Lares nodded, glancing at the nearby bookshelf. "Did you have anything in mind?"

"Um, yes..." Serena asked hesitantly, and looked away almost sheepishly.

"Well?" Lares said, turning back to her. Noticing how quiet the girl had become, she tilted her head to side. "Are you alright?"

Serena still looked away at nothing as she pondered her next words. This only made Lares more curious and a bit concerned as she waited.

"Lares?" she asked, finally looking the teen in the eyes again. "Have you ever been to Earth?"

The Mercurean blinked a couple of times at that question.

"No, of course not. Why do you ask?"

"Would you ever like to go?" Serena asked earnestly.

Lares clinked her teeth a couple of times before answering, looking pensive.

"I suppose... curiosity has hit me more than once. It'd be fascinating to go down there and study everything the planet has to offer. But only a few are allowed to, and even fewer are allowed to remain planetside for long."

Finally, Lares smiled.

"Serena, would you like me to find a book about Earth?" she asked.

Serena smiled back.

"Yes, please."

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 2: Meeting Warriors

**Celestial Warrior Moon:**

 **Memories of the Silver Millennium**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any _Sailor Moon_ related properties _._ _Sailor Moon_ is the property of Toei Animation and Naoko Takeuchi. This is a fan work created to celebrate the work. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Cover image by _SomeoftheFame_. Thank you so, so much, man.

 **Note:** Change of plans, Serena's chapter will not be split into four parts, instead of just three. And from here on out, each individual Warriors' backstory will no longer be treated as a lengthy one-shot, but will be covered in as many chapters as it takes.

 **Chapter Two**

 **Princess Serena:**

 **Meeting Warriors**

Morning, Iota 17th, Lunar Palace, Lunar District, the Moon Kingdom, 9982 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 984 A.D., September 26th, Earth reckoning

The second was Harmonia fon Venus, a few months later. Serena had her chance to speak with her also on the same day she was sworn in. Harmonia had strutted in with much more confidence than Lares and was much more willing to put up a fight right from the beginning. However, even she with her versatile weapon which could change from a spiked flail to a crescent sword, she was no watch for the older, more experienced Warrior. At the end of the sparring session, she was on the ground, bruised, cut, covered in dirt, and with her armor dented and scratched in several places. She looked up at her new Captain with a pouty look of defiance despite the loss.

Celine simply stared back at her plainly.

"You have a long ways to go,"she told the newest blonde, reverting back to her formal clothes. "Now get washed up and take a break. Tomorrow, your proper training begins."

"Yes, Ma'am," Venus mumbled.

Later that day, Serena found Venus in a vacant back hall by herself. Harmonia was staring at the reflection in her pocket mirror, eyeing the welt she received from Celine's backhand. Serena had just happened to be passing by through the main corridor and must have been quieter than she would have imagined, because the Warrior didn't notice her at all. Harmonia was leaning against the wall, studying herself. Serena stopped and watched her for a moment in silence.

"' _So you don't forget,'_ ," Harmonia mockingly mimicked her superior, rubbing the dark spot on her cheek painfully. "It'll be weeks before this goes away!"

"Will she get mad if she knows I've been watching?" Serena thought as she sucked in a breath.

"Oh, Harmonia!" she called out, feigning surprise.

The other blonde snapped her compact shut and pocketed it. She stepped away from the wall, coughing awkwardly and faced her Princess.

"Ah! Princess!" Harmonia replied, bowing. "I didn't expect you to come by here."

"And I didn't expect to see you," Serena replied, going over to her. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just, uh," Harmonia stuttered before hiding the compact behind her back. "Just touching up my makeup."

"Oh, dear," Serena gasped, as if noticing the welt for the first time.

Harmonia blushed and turned her head so her stinging left cheek was out of view. However, Serena closed the distance between them and gently touched the older girl's chin, facing her forward.

"Goodness, Celine really did this time. I don't think Lares had a mark this bad," she said.

This was true, and Harmonia just looked away sourly.

"Your cousin is a real piece of work," Harmonia muttered unhappily. "I worked so hard to be presentable today and she gives me a shiner. No one's going to want to dance with a girl who looks like she's been in a fight at my welcoming ball tonight."

"Hmm..." Serena hummed thoughtfully, examining the dark spot more closely.

Harmonia flushed slightly and turned her head slightly to put it somewhat out of view.

"I can fix that," Serena offered.

Harmonia looked down at her with a raised brow.

"...You can?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Yes!" Serena chimed. "I know just the thing to get rid of that quicker."

Harmonia's eyes brightened a bit at hearing this and she was almost smiling.

"Really? What do I have to do?" she asked.

"Just follow me to my bedchamber. I know how to hide it, too," Serena explained.

"Princess, I know how to cover up marks with makeup, but Lady Celine did too good a job," Harmonia replied.

"Not for the Princess's makeup, she didn't," Serena quipped.

At this, Harmona raised her brow again. Princess makeup? Now this she had to see.

A few minutes later, they were both in Serena's room, seated on her bed across from each other. Serena had her makeup kit laid out to the side, but at the moment she was holding a small bottle she'd gotten from a cabinet. She unscrewed it, put a finger to the narrow opening at the top, pouring a tiny bit onto the fingertip.

"First, here's a little something to make that mark disappear faster," Serena said as she lightly dabbed Harmonia's cheek. "We need ten minutes for this to dry and then I'll apply the Foedus to cover it up."

"Foedus?" Harmonia asked incredulously.

Serena chuckled awkwardly and looked away.

"The man who names the royal brands tends to help himself to wine barrels in the cellar," she explained self-consciously.

Harmonia opened her mouth, making an understanding "Ah" motion with it. Then both girls burst out into chortles of laughter, and Serena knew immediately they could get along well.

"By the way, where do you get this stuff you say will clear up the mark Lady Celine left?" Harmonia asked.

"The woman, herself," Serena replied. "She uses it all the time whenever she's been in a fight and needs to be presentable soon afterwards."

Harmonia couldn't help but find the humor in that.

"Do you think she will be displeased that you covered up her 'mark'?" Harmonia then asked, smirking.

"I don't care~" Serena sang playfully. "She can be as mad as she wants, but you are going to have fun at the ball tonight. You'll find a dance partner in no time!"

At this, Harmonia smiled. She hadn't known what to expect from the little Princess, but so far, the person she was ordered to protect was definitely making a good case for herself.

"Thank you," Harmonia said genuinely.

"You're welcome!~" Serena cheered.

With that, she went over to the dresser, taking out a makeup kit and getting everything ready. Harmonia watched her, grinning as the little Princess hummed to herself as she worked.

"Hey, Harmonia?" Serena suddenly asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Have you ever wanted to go down to Earth?"

Harmonia's right brow quirked upwards.

"...Not really?" she replied. "It just sounds... so..."

Serena had turned to her, holding the opened kit with a brush for applying the bruise-hiding Foedus.

"Like what?" Serena prompted after Harmonia had trailed off for a while.

Harmonia tangled a finger in her eyes, glancing upwards at the ceiling light fixture.

"Uncivilized," she finally said.

"What do you meant?" Serena asked, as she approached the bed again.

"Well, none of the nations have discovered electricity yet, and they worship superstition instead of reason," she replied.

"Oh," Serena replied, climbing back up onto the bed. "But Momma says that's because they're a new people on a fairly young planet."

"They're still violent and dangerous," Harmonia told her. "I once attended a class, Planetside Studies, and most of what I heard about Earth was war, conquest, oppression, famine, and diseases."

Harmonia untangled her hair and released it.

"The whole lot of them sound like barbarians," she muttered darkly.

Serena seemed a little hurt by those words, which confused Harmonia.

"So... you really think it's that bad?" Serena inquired, with surprising meekness. She bit her lip, hoping her new Guardian had something pleasant to say about the world which enraptured her interest so.

Harmonia got the distinct impression she might crush the child's hopes with the answer she first intended to use, so she took a breath and reorganized her words.

"Though I did see a lot of interesting things in pictures," Harmonia said. "They've built some very impressive structures for having no machines to help them and the cultures are so different, it'd be like stepping into a new world whenever you crossed into another country. But Princess, should you really be so focused on Earth? It's not like you can ever go there."

Serena sighed, and leaned forward to dab the first of the Foedus onto Harmonia's cheek.

"No, but I can dream..." she mumbled.

* * *

Morning, Iota-Beta 26th, Lunar Palace, Lunar District, the Moon Kingdom, 9982 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 984 A.D., November 30th, Earth reckoning

Third came Mars not long after, and from the most unexpected of places. Adrestia fon Mars II, born Adrestia fon Troy II, had been a member of the Martian branch family which protected the main Mars bloodline as bodyguards and Captains of the Guard within the household. Serena had often met the "heirs" to the Celestial Gear of Mars, and hadn't really liked any of them. Their every move and stare were always filled to the brim with entitlement and the self-assuredness that they would ascend as the Warrior of Mars. Behind their cold politeness, Serena never really got the impression they saw actually her as a person, but as a means to an end. Ascending as a Warrior and becoming Guardian of the royal family and protector of the people also meant becoming the heir to the position of household Matriarchy. However, there were no noble aspirations in their hearts. Only the position and the power that came with it.

Then it happened, during an attempted assassination of the Martian noble bloodline by disgruntled citizens, the head bodyguard of Lady Mars' children Awakened as Celestial Warrior Mars and used her new power to fend off the attackers. Serena remembered breathing a sigh of relief that she wouldn't be stuck with any of the brats from Mars' main bloodline, and yet… she might have preferred that to what happened next.

Despite the law stating that whoever ascends as a Celestial Warrior becomes the official heir of their noble house, Lady Mars had tried to take Adrestia's birthright from her by staging a coup against the newly promoted Troy family. It had failed due to the Troys having the new Warrior Mars on their side and soon the tide was turned. Serena herself had only ever heard about what happened through the grapevine, but the Troys had stormed the Martian family home in retaliation and Warrior Mars personally reduced the entire main bloodline to cinders.

Now Adrestia fon Troy I was Lady Mars and her daughter had been sent to the Moon palace to join the ranks of her allies. Serena had been intimidated at the sight of the raven haired woman. She may have been but a teenager, but there was no aspect of her that could be described as a mere 'girl.' The way she stood, moved, and spoke, everything about her screamed of a woman groomed for war rather than the ballrooms.

When she had walked into the palace to be presented before the Queen, she had the look of a soldier reporting for duty rather than a noble heir claiming their inheritance. Serena was immediately intimidated by her. The black-haired beauty had a piercing stare that looked Celine right in the eye without a problem, something neither of the previous Warriors had been able to do at first. The only thing Serena could do while looking upon Adrestia for the first time was picture the faces of the Martian noble family, many of whom she had grown up with, and were now all gone. They were ashes on the wind, by this fierce warrior-woman's hand.

Serena felt a shiver go down her spine when Adrestia's eyes momentarily met with her own. It felt like she was being sized up and judged. She gulped and nearly broke eye contact. Serena would have looked away and shrunk down in her seat, but her mother put a hand on one of hers' to remind her where they were: in the royal court, overseeing a ceremony. Serena immediately settled back down and watched intently as she did the other two initiations.

When Celine gave the traditional backhand, Adrestia seemed ready to return the favor. However, she refrained from acting on any revenge… until the evaluation. Mars' fire arrows flew from her bow, aiming for her target. And she was anything but conservative about it. Fire burned brightly, igniting the palace training grounds, threatening to expand beyond the lines chalked into the cobblestone and into the crowd.

After the first time the flames strayed out of the ring, Lares and Harmonia had assumed their Warrior forms. They stepped between Serena and the light show before them, ready to protect her. In that blaze, the Warriors Moon and Mars engaged in what looked like mortal combat, and neither would be stopped as the battle stretched out longer than both the prior evaluations, combined. It was Serenity who had ended it, appearing the rear balcony overlooking the courtyard.

"CEASE!" her voice reached clear to the back wall of the massive yard.

Both Warriors halted their battling and looked up at their Queen. They then put away their weapons and bowed.

"I think your fun has gone on quite long enough," Serenity's voice boomed from above.

"Yes, Your Majesty," both Warriors replied.

"Now please stop before you've burned the royal guards' training grounds into nothing," their queen requested.

"Yes, Your Majesty," both Warriors again replied.

"Forgive me, I was having so much fun that I forgot myself," Celine added.

They didn't see it, but Serenity barely contained a chuckle at that. With that, the evaluation was over and while Mars had cuts and additional bruises to the original one given by Celine, the Warrior of Fire had taken her revenge. Celine had a shiner to match Adrestia's.

After the match was over, Serena didn't find herself in any particular rush to meet this new Warrior, but alas, Harmonia wouldn't hear of it.

"Come on, then," Harmona said, leading a reluctant Serena by the hand. "She might look scary, but you're going to have to get used to her all the same."

"I don't wanna," Serena mumbled.

"Now there'll be none of that," Harmonia scolded her.

They stopped at the base of the spiral staircase and Harmonia turned to face her, crouching down to get eye level with her. She held both of Serena's little hands in her own.

"She won't hurt you," Harmonia assured her. "She took the same sacred vows as the rest of us. Give her a chance, eh?"

Serena looked down, but Harmonia gently reached under her chin with a finger raised her face back up.

"Eh?" Harmonia repeated softly.

"You're sure?" Serena asked.

"Positive," Harmonia replied. "She's here for one reason and one reason alone: to protect the royal family and the people. She wouldn't have been chosen as the next Warrior Mars if she was unworthy of it. So about it, Princess? Let's give her a chance, eh?"

"Alright…" Serena relented.

Harmonia smiled and stood again, and began leading Serena the rest of the way to the Warriors' private den, which was located in a far off corner of the palace in the west wing, a place where they were guaranteed a break from everything when they needed it. Inside, they could hear multiple voices speaking and laughing. Harmonia paused, recognizing absolutely none of them. She recalled telling Adrestia she could bring a friend or two, but it sound like a small pack in there.

She shrugged and pulled open the door leading into the den, and there she was. Serena were given another reason for pause. Adrestia had brought more than just a friend or two, already the new Mars and four others were inside. A pair of twins she recognized as Deimos and Phobos were sitting on a dining table, chatting away with some member of the Martian Guard, a scruffy man armed with a bow and arrow. Harmonia knew him to be Orion of the Royal Archery Unit. On the left in the practice area, Mars and a red-headed woman Harmonia recognized as The Lead Crow were sparring with wooden blades.

"How come all these other people are here?" Serena whispered up to Harmonia. "They're not Celestial Warriors."

"Lady Harmonia!" one of the twins shouted.

Deimos, Phobos, and Orion all stopped their chatting and after the twins had hopped down from the table, they all bowed for her. And Morrigan the Lead Crow, looked away from her sparring partner to the blonde, and back. Adrestia nodded and Morrigan turned to bow as well.

"Greetings, Milady," the red-head greeted. "Forgive us for making ourselves so at home in the private den for you and your comrades."

"It's quite alright, I know you all are only here by invite," Harmonia replied.

Then she crouched next to Serena, taking her by the shoulders.

"Go on," she urged quietly.

Adrestia rested the wooden blade over her shoulders, laying her forearms on it as the little princess shyly approached her. Serena walked stiffly with her hands folded in front and looking straight, still a bit intimidated by the raven noble-killer. The two stood in quiet awkwardness for a moment, studying each other.

Serena gulped and finally met Adrestia's eyes. The Warrior smiled at her and crouched down until they were eye level. She allowed Morrigan to take the practice weapon from her and dropped her arms to her sides.

"Hello, little one," Adrestia said, putting a hand on her hip. "I'm the big, scary Warrior of Mars."

"Be nice," Morrigan mouthed down at her.

Adrestia stretched out her hand to shake Serena's, but all the little princess could do is look at it, wondering what she wanted. Eventually, she just looked at Adrestia again, questioningly. The Warrior let her arm drop with a chuckle.

"Pleased to meet you?" Adrestia tried to again.

"Pleased to meet you," Serena answered with a slow curtsy.

"She's so adorable," Deimos whispered, almost gushing, somewhere behind the little princess.

"Sh," her sister hissed at her.

"I'm Adrestia fon Tro… fon Mars II," the raven said, as she was still getting used to her new name. "I do hope our time together is pleasant."

"I hope so, too," Serena replied, mind reeling to stay on course.

Looking into her eyes, Serena could tell this Adrestia had none of the self-entitlement of any of the heirs she had surpassed. There was also this sense of informality Serena wasn't used to, but didn't fully dislike.

"I will be in your care from now on, Warrior Mars," Serena spoke again, trying to talk like royalty. "And I trust you will take your duties seriously."

"With my life, as promised," Adrestia replied.

"I know. You seem like you really know how to fight, like Cousin Celine," Serena said.

"I should hope so, I was practically raised with a blade in my hand," Adrestia chuckled.

"And a fist ready to punch anyone who crossed her!" Morrigan piped up, punching her palm and grinning widely.

Serena giggled nervously, and turned to Adrestia again.

"I'm glad it's you, actually, instead off…" Serena stopped in midsentence, recalling that the Martian heirs, one of whom would presumably be her Mars, were all dead without even bodies to bury.

Serena closed her mouth and turned uncomfortably, having addressed the elephant in the room without really meaning to. She mumbled an apology and started to turn away. Harmonia walked up and took her by the shoulders.

"Hold on. Let's not let first impressions go sour now," she told her princess.

She looked past Serena to Adrestia. The other Warrior now looked at the floor with a haunted expression.

"Adrestia," Harmonia called gingerly.

The girl didn't seem to hear her.

"Adrestia," she tried again.

After she didn't respond again, Morrigan took the initiative and nudged her with her foot. Adrestia looked up at her, and the redhead nodded towards the Princess and the other Warrior. The raven turned them again, finally giving Harmonia her chance to speak.

"We all know you only did what you had to," Harmonia said, and then turned to Serena, who she still held. "Right?"

"…Yes," Serena mumbled.

"Look her in the eyes," Harmonia whispered.

Serena obediently turned slowly around until she faced Adrestia again. It took a moment for her to muster the courage to meet Adrestia's gaze again. As for the new Mars, she was chewing her lip trying to find her words. She opened her mouth and hung it for a moment before speaking.

"The noble heirs you grew up with were unwilling to respect the tradition they had sworn to uphold, Princess," she said. "They didn't _just_ try to kill me, but my entire family and everyone else I hold dear. Including these fine women and my dear friend, Orion."

She gestured around first to Morrigan, then to Deimos and Phobos, and finally the scruffy archer, who'd been silent the whole time.

"Those dogs burned down Addy's home," Morrigan sneered. "Their little coup happened right under everyone's noses and they tried to blame on it on the people. I don't feel sorry about…!"

"Morrigan!" Adrestia shouted to silence her before she said anything too frightening for the child.

Morrigan just looked away with a huff, crossing her arms. Adrestia turned to Serena again.

"Princess," she said, stretching to a hand for Serena to take.

The little Princess was hesitant, but slowly took her hand.

"Apart from my vows I made before the Queen and Celine, here's one to you and you alone," she said. "I promise on my mother's name that I will never harm you and will keep you from harm. You need never fear me."

Serena seemed unsure whether to believe her or not, but at last, the little princess started to smile at her newest guardian. Adrestia gave her a lop-sided smirk in return. Then, without warning, she grabbed up the little Princess and hoisted her into the air. With a surprised cry, Serena was lifted up onto Adrestia's shoulder and sat there. The sudden motion was disorienting for a moment, but then Serena let out a giggle.

"See? I'm not so bad!" Adrestia said with her own laugh.

"Adrestia!" Harmonia said firmly. "I really must protest. This isn't proper!"

"Eh, can't be proper all the time!" Adrestia waved her off and spun around once, giving the Princess a quick ride.

"Again! Faster! Faster!" Serena squealed.

"You got it!" Adrestia laughed.

Harmonia started to have a bad feeling about this new Warrior.

* * *

Midmorning, Delta 11th, Lunar Palace, Lunar District, the Moon Kingdom, 9984 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 986 A.D., April 5th Earth reckoning

Unlike the other Warriors who Awakened within months of each other, it took the next Jupiter two full years to emerge. By then, Serena was a young lady of ten. The new Jupiter had come from a place even more unexpected than Adrestia had: a bakery in Cheap Side. Her name was Lita Baecere. She was the daughter of Ana Baecere, a working class woman who owned a bakery in a humble corner of the kingdom. How this had happened baffled many, as it seemed to be triggered by a random event. Street crime was bad in the neighborhood where Lita and her mother lived, and during a particularly violent gang confrontation in the street, the girl's powers had Awakened and a few random lightning blasts was all it took to send all the thugs running.

Exactly how a seemingly normal commoner girl could inherit the Celestial Gear of Jupiter was a quandary until her birth father, Xerxes fon Jupiter stepped forward and admitted to having drunken relations with one of the servant girls an evening many years prior. Xerxes was the brother of Lady Jupiter, the previous Jovian Warrior and current head of the household. For a moment, all wondered in dread if the events of the Martian noble family might not be repeated.

However, instead of going on the warpath, Lady Hera fon Jupiter took the girl in as her official heir. She saw Lita's ascension as a sign that she had inadequately reared her own children. Any discord within the Jovian noble house had been put down and soon, the new Warrior Jupiter was presented to the Queen.

As for Xerxes fon Jupiter, not much had been seen of him lately, and recent visitors to Jupiter Manor had noticed that the staff had become predominantly male.

"I'll bet she cries," Mars said in a hushed tone, though Serena could hear them from her little throne beside her mother's.

The three were lined beside Celine at the base of the throne's platform, though she stood on the bottom step, displaying her status as leader. If Celine and Mercury heard them, they weren't showing it.

"Oh, come now. She's a Celestial Warrior like us, and she already proved her mettle on the streets," Venus whispered back. "She'll bear it just like we did."

"Eh, she's just some commoner girl who never received a single bit of training in her life," Mars teasingly replied. "Bet she breaks down crying on the spot."

"How much?" Venus then said pointedly.

"Ten thousand wanings," Mars said. "And whoever loses has to take the late watch."

"You are on, Dear Adrestia," Venus said.

"Excuse me?" Mercury piped in.

"Yes?" both her comrades replied.

"You said this new Jupiter has received no planning?" Mercury prompted.

"Yes?" Mars replied questioningly.

"Then I bet she takes a swing at Celine in return," Mercury said.

"No one's that foolhardy. She knows who Duchess Celine is," Venus answered.

"Wanna bet? I'm in," Mercury pressed.

"Fine. I hope you like taking late watch," Mars murmured.

It wasn't long after that the grand double doors into the throne room open and in walked Lita, who had been renamed Leda Europa Callisto fon Jupiter, to match her new status. The question hung over many minds why so many additional names had been dropped on the girl. But there she was, looking as unsure and cautious as a deer. She was dressed more like a man than a woman, with a white breeches, boots, and a green dress jacket with a sash across the chest with the symbol of Jupiter on it. When the ceremony had concluded, and she received the usual treatment, but to everyone's surprise, she reacted a bit different.

"What the hell?!" she cried, clutching her cheek, and then drew back her hand to retaliate. "Take thi…!"

But Celine caught the punch with a block that came up from the left. With her palm, she smacked Lita's hand to the side, causing the girl to stumble forward on her own momentum. Then the Captain grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back and turning the girl around all in the same motion. Lita squirmed in Celine's grip and growled as she struggled to break loose.

"Yes!" Mercury hissed.

She looked over to meet the sour gazes of Mars and Venus.

"You did that because _you_ had the late watch tonight, didn't you?" Mars grumbled.

"Whatever do you mean?" Mercury said with faux innocence.

Mars and Venus both silently vowed revenge.

* * *

When they arrived, the training area had been prepared with four copper rods at the four corners of the sparring ring, which were designed to keep Jupiter's lightning contained to the immediate area. They were taking no chances after the near miss of Mars' initiation.

"So what was up with that, huh? 'So I never forget?!' I'll give you something you'll never forget!"

Serena winced at the wild, untamed motions of her newest Guardian. Emerald eyes of fury and a set of bared teeth from which came growls and snarls as she pelted Warrior Moon again and again with heavy greaves made for melee combat. She was unlike any of the rest. And the four barriers at the corners of the ring were put to the test, vibrating and even showing signs of wanting to melt as the lightning belted them.

"She's… interesting," Serena heard Venus comment.

"Interesting…" Serena mouthed, repeating her.

She watched this new Jupiter with a strange, frightful fascination.

"Is this what commoners are like? She wondered.

Jupiter held her own pretty well, with her odd street fighting style of combat, but she needed a lot of fine tuning to be made a proper Warrior, as Mars verbally noted more than once.

"How can this girl have been chosen?" Venus mumbled aloud. "So uncouth and undisciplined."

"And do you hear the language coming from that mouth?" Mercury said critically.

Mars rolled her eyes at their criticisms of her character, focusing only the need to refine her combat skills.

"How can you say she's not good at fighting?" Serena asked her. "Celine hasn't knocked her down yet."

"She's doing fine because she has lightning and the very ground on her side," Mars replied. "Look, Celine's already figuring out ways past her defenses. She'll be on her rump at Lady Moon's feet in a moment. She lacks proper training."

And just like clockwork, Warrior Moon dashed forward and threw herself to the ground, feet forward and slid under Jupiter's defenses before sweeping her sword around in an arc. She blasted her opponent, hard, and sent her spiraling out of the ring and through the crowd.

"Match over!" Moon said, climbing to her feet.

"Uuuugh…" Jupiter groaned as she stumbled through the guards she'd just plowed past.

She wobbled back towards her new superior so they could both bow out of the ring and head inside. While Mars went to join them, Mercury reverted back to being normal Lares and took Serena by the hand. The match was over, and it was time for Serena to promptly get back to her lessons. She'd have to properly meet Lita later. As for Harmonia, she had remained in the training area. When Serena happened to look over her shoulder as she and Lares departed, she saw Venus flirting with some of the guards.

* * *

"All of these points will be on the test, so let's go over the basics for now," Lares said. "How was the battle of Orion's Shoulder won?"

Serena drew up a blank, and looked up from her worksheet, blinking.

"Which one was the battle of Orion's Shoulder again?" she asked.

Lares sighed.

"It was during the final stretch of our ancestor's journey to the Sol System. They were attacked by space pirates, but it wasn't the ambush our assailants were hoping for. The travelers were ready, and their pursuers never considered the option that the rear Deep Space Arc was actually empty of goods, crew and passengers. So, Serena, how was the Arc being piloted? And what was actually in the cargo hold?" Lares asked.

The bluette was pacing back and forth in front of the blackboard while Serena had her nose buried in her notebook, jotting down everything being said. Celine had pretty much handed the Princess's education over to her ever since she arrived. Lares protested at first, hating that it would cut into what little precious reading time she had, but in the end, she'd had to obey her superior.

"It was remote controlled by Myrddin Taliesin," Serena replied, looking up from her notes. "And the cargo hold was full of explosives. Serenity I detonated the bombs the instant the lead pirate ship boarded the rear Arc, taking out the captain. After that, the other ships in the fleet were without a leader and they were easy to chase off."

"And what was the direct consequence of this battle?" Lares asked.

"Many of the Deep Space Arcs were heavily damaged and they had just enough power left to make one final Light Year Jump to a remote system with nine planets," Serena answered. "They were in luck, because apart from one primitive planet down below, no one lived here. No one to chase them out again. They made their home right here, on the moon of Earth."

"And in what way was the this sole inhabited planet primitive?" Lares

It would have been easier to list all the ways it wasn't, which is why the question threw Serena for a loop.

"Every way," Serena answered.

There was a pause between them.

"That is not a suitable answer," Lares said.

"They had no civilian-er, civilizations back then," Serena said. "It was just tribes wearing skins when we arrived. They had more kinds of animals, then, too. Like blade-toothed lions and furry elephants."

"Woolly Mammoths," Lares corrected.

"Right, mammoths," Serena repeated.

As soon as the history quiz was done, it was time to move onto the math.

"I expect to you have this worksheet done within an half-hour," Lares told her. "Then you can take a break to go play with Luna."

"Okay," Serena mumbled.

"I have a few things to attend to," Lares then added. "But I will be back to check on you."

With that, the bluette left the little Princess to her worksheet, scribbling on it. Serena sighed unhappily, hating how Mercury seemed to emulate Celine whenever it came to teaching.

"Maybe she just doesn't know how to do her own way yet," Serena thought with a bit of disparagement.

However, she said nothing, and the only noise in the room was the sound of her pencil printing out numbers on the parchment given to her. About fifteen minutes passed before she got stuck on a tricky decimal problem. She scarcely noticed the faint smell of baked goods reaching her nose. As she tapped the eraser against the problem, there was a little knock at the door.

"Come in," she quietly called. Serena looked up from her work, wondering who was calling on her.

The door opened and the smell of fresh bread, cheese, and butter wafted in.

"Miss Lita?" Serena asked in astonishment at seeing the newest Warrior at her door with a tray of snacks.

"Hello!" Lita nervously greeted her, bowing.

"Oh, hello, Miss Lita!" Serena said exuberantly, but Lita drew a finger to her lips.

Serena looked at her in confusion, and the question on her mind was answered soon enough with the sound of Celine's voice coming from just down the stairs.

"Where did she go?!" Celine shouted. "She knew she had preliminary lessons to attend!"

"Hide me!" Lita whispered, closing the door behind her.

She dashed across the room, setting the tray in front of Serena.

"I thought you might need some brain food," she explained. "And…"

"Adrestia, please help me find her," they both heard Celine ask from out in the hall.

"Hold that thought!" Lita said, dropping onto her hands and knees and crawling under the table, hiding herself.

The table cloth was hung down low enough that she was hidden. Serena could only lean over to one side and lift it up with a look of amusement plastered on her features. She saw Lita peering back at her, again with a finger to her lips.

"Please don't rat me out!" Lita whispered from underneath.

Serena was at a bit of a crossroads. On one hand, Lita _had_ brought her snacks and the idea of not being alone in total silence was very appealing. But if she got caught hiding this fugitive by Celine there's be the Devil to pay.

The door suddenly swung open and Celine poked her head in.

"Serena, have you seen Lita? She's disappeared and we can't find her," Celine asked.

"No," Serena shook her head.

Celine grumbled and moved on, leaving the door open in her haste. Adrestia stepped into view a short distance behind her superior. She also glanced into her room and waved to her princess. Serena waved back. Adrestia grinned and was about to move on when she spotted the faintest bit of person under the table in the narrow space between the bottom of the table and the floor.

She glanced back at Serena, who raised a finger to her lips. Adrestia crossed her arms disapprovingly, but the blonde flashed her very best puppy eyes. The Martian rolled her eyes and took a step inside the room.

"Just this once," Serena spoke low to keep from being heard outside the room.

Adrestia sighed, and after a few seconds, nodded. She raised her index finger to signify that she wouldn't be helping Lita dodge Celine again, shrugged her shoulders, and closed the door as she left. After a moment, Lita poked her head out from underneath the table.

"Thanks," she breathed as she crawled out. "That woman is insane."

"Cousin Celine isn't crazy!" Serena protested, pouting.

Lita, still on her hands and knees, looked at her with amusement.

"Yeah, well, you don't have to train under her," she said.

"No, instead I just have to learn under her," Serena replied, turning back to homework.

"Oh, really? Whatcha studying?" Lita said, leaning over the table. "Math, eh? Are you having trouble?"

"A bit. This decimal problem is hard," Serena said, tapping the equation with her pencil again.

"Well, let's see…" Lita offered, turning to the description of the problem, and then stopping. "Oh… this is written in Sarati."

Serena blinked in confusion at that statement. What else would it have been written in? Spotting her princess's look, Lita knew she had to explain.

"I've just moved into noble life. I can still only read Khuza."

"Oh, right, the commoner's alphabet," Serena said, and then realized. "You really can't read the noble's form of our language?"

"Uh…" Lita hummed, looking over it.

The words were confusing and difficult to decipher, like someone who had only ever known print seeing cursive for the first time in their life. She could make out most of it with effort due to an overall resemblance to the simpler form of their language's written form, but it was tricky. And she had no hope of writing it yet. Both forms were similar to ancient Hebrew, but unlike the Earth language where the letters ended in sharp edges, Lunarian letters were rounded. It was written and read starting at left-to-right on the top line, then right-to-left the next, and the alternating directions would continue until the end.

"So," Lita said, sliding into the chair next to Serena's. She leaned into with her elbows, resting her on its side in her arms. "They made you sit in court with your parents; made you watch my whole initiation, and now they're filling that little head with numbers and facts?"

"Yes…" Serena mumbled.

"Have you even gone once?" Lita asked, smirking.

"Gone where?" Serena asked, looking at her curiously.

Lita's laugh came out as a snort.

"You shouldn't laugh like that, and Celine would kill you if she saw your elbows on the table," Serena pointed out.

"You're probably right," Lita said, raising herself from the tabletop and then leaning the chair onto its back legs.

"That's no better," Serena groaned.

Lita ignored her, rocking it back and forth.

"Wait, you didn't answer my question. Where am I supposed to go?" Serena asked.

"To the ladies' room," Lita answered bluntly.

Serena's face turned downright luminescent and she turned away bashfully.

"It-its improper to ask a lady that sort of thing!" she asked.

"Keep it down!" Lita hissed. "Are you trying to get me caught now?! Besides, we're both girls!"

"That's beside the point!"

"Quietly, quietly," Lita repeated. "And what's so embarrassing about being asked about that?"

"Its improper!" Serena hissed.

"Oh, you nobles are far too uptight. Live a little. Perfectly normal bodily functions are not something to be embarrassed by," Lita waved her off.

"Well, you commoners are too uncouth!" Serena sniffed.

Lita smirked and leaned in.

"You're probably right, but oh well!" she chuckled.

"You're not supposed to agree with that!"

Lita grinned and stuck out her tongue in response.

"So improper!" Serena laughed and then acted in kind.

Soon, both girls were giggling and seeing who could blow a raspberry the longest. Lita smiled inwardly at successfully getting the little Princess to drop what walls she had and start acting like a normal child.

"So," Lita said at last. "Have you had anytime to yourself today?"

"As soon as I finish homework," Serena replied.

"Alright," Lita replied, sliding her chair closer. "Let's get to it. I'll help you with anything you don't understand if you help me with Sarati."

"Sure," Serena agreed.

And so it was. No one thought to check back in Serena's quarters until Lares returned to find all the work completed and Serena helping Lita with her Sarati.

"And this is how you write your name is Sarati," Serena said as she finished penning it down.

Lita pursed her lips as she stared at the writing. Neither noticed Lares standing in the door yet.

"Now you try," Serena said, handing her pen.

"Alright..." the brunette said.

She dipped the pen in the ink and tried to copy down her name in the upper class scribe. Serena looked up from the other girl's work to her face, studying it for a moment.

"Hey, Lita?" she asked.

"Mm?"

"Have you ever wanted to go down to Earth?" Serena asked.

Lita chuckled, smirking.

"Like I could afford that before moving into nobility?" she said, dismissing the idea. "Besides, they'll never let me go now that I have to look after you."

She ruffled Serena's hair, getting a squeal of protest out of the girl. The Princess batted her new Guardian's hand away and smoothed her hair out again.

"So you have wanted to go?" Serena asked, hopefully.

Lita chuckled again and looked at her.

"Of course, silly thing. Everyone wants to get out from under the dome, even for just a while and be able to walk forever in any direction under a real sky," she answered.

"So you'd go if you could?" Serena asked.

Lita shrugged.

"Why not? Sounds like fun."

By now, Lares had decided this conversation had gone on long enough and she stepped forward, clearing her throat loudly. Lita's head snapped up, eyes wide. Lares crossed her arms, eyeing the other Warrior disapprovingly.

"Oh, damn," Lita muttered.

Lita's punishment was tending to Serena for the rest of the day instead of a night in the brig as Celine would normally dish out. The leniency was due to Lita making productive use of her insubordination. However, the terms were that if Serena was late to any of her duties, that night in the brig would still happen.

* * *

Afternoon, 9986 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 988 A.D., Earth reckoning

As time went on, Lita managed to find a niche within the nobility. She was never comfortable in the role, but she was able to impress the public when needed. Two more years had passed and Serena was now twelve. Though she still sometimes acted like a child under ten. Having little contact with the outside world, and knowing only the court, her lessons, and the palace staff, one could say she grew up in a life of comfortable boredom if any such thing existed.

"Why can't I join you in the city?" Serena demanded.

"Because we're been receiving strange energy readings around the kingdom as of late," Chiron answered.

The limo pulled up to the main entrance of the palace where father and daughter waited at the base of the steps. The Guardian Warriors were up at the top, keeping vigil watch as usual. As soon as the vehicle was parked, the butler opened the passenger door for his lord.

"But nothing's happened since the night I was born!" Serena whined.

"Don't snivel," Celine scolded her.

"Well, I do think sheltering her like this is ridiculous," Adrestia murmured.

"Sh," Lares hissed, putting a finger to her lips.

"Yes, and the odd readings have been happening on and off ever since," Chiron told Serena as he climbed in.

"But if Nehellenia could return, she'd have done it by now," Serena insisted.

"Or she's waiting for the right opportunity," Chiron answered, looking at her in concern. "Waiting for you to leave the safety of the palace."

"Ooh!" Serena pouted and turned away.

"Please don't be difficult, my dear. You can explore the outside world when we've put this matter to rest…"

"Don't even bother making promises you don't intend to keep!" Serena cried and stormed up the stairs.

"Serena! Don't turn away from me!" Chiron shouted angrily, but she would not face him.

She just took a place among her Warriors and crossed her arms, her back to him. Chiron was about to jump out from the limo, but the butler coughed loudly.

"You will be late to the meeting with the Defense Department if you delay," the elderly, balding man said.

Chiron looked from his daughter to him, and back, before sitting back down. The butler politely closed the limo door for him and it pulled away.

"You shouldn't disrespect your father so," Harmonia told Serena.

"I don't care right now," Serena said, and started towards the palace entrance.

Celine looked at Adrestia and gestured with her eyes for the Martian to follow her. Adrestia saluted and obediently began to follow the Princess. However, the sound of footsteps keeping pace with her exactly ten steps behind at all times only soured Serena's mood more.

"I want to be left alone," Serena said to whoever it was.

"Sorry, Princess, but this is Celine's order," Adrestia replied.

The Princess gritted her teeth, but remained in control. As soon as they were inside, Serena sharply turned and ducked into an empty hallway. Adrestia kept in pace perfectly. As soon as they were alone, Serena spun around, arms rigidly at her side and hands balled into tight fists.

"I dismiss you from my presence," Serena said with cold politeness.

"The Princess does not possess the authority to dismiss a Celestial Warrior," Adrestia said.

Serena tried to keep from growling, but her body shook with anger.

"I just need a moment alone in my permanent prison," her voice was measured, but the growing anger was evident.

"I can't disobey Cel…"

"Oh, stow it! Am I the only one around here with a mind of my own!" Serena cried, and stormed off.

Stunned, but not so much her body couldn't take the automated motion of following Serena, Adrestia took off after her in silence as she recovered from the outburst.

"And quit following me!"

Try as she might, she couldn't shake Adrestia no matter how far through the palace she fled. Though she would later admit it was probably the best workout she'd had in a long time. Eventually, their wanderings found them in front of the large double doors to the palace's transporter room. They were at least twenty feet high and five feet thick. They were opened and closed with magic and activated with passwords. No one was going to Earth without a lot of people noticing.

Serena hugged herself as she leaned up against the wall staring wistfully at it.

"Don't even think about it," she heard Adrestia behind her.

"You don't control my mind," Serena snapped.

"No, but we will keep you here in the palace."

"Of that, I am painfully aware. Want to rub it in some more?"

Adrestia felt like throttling the brat, but she took several deep breaths and tried to remain calm.

"Calm, breathe, focus…" she mentally repeated the mantra her mother taught her.

Then she walked over to Serena and placed a hand on her shoulder. Serena didn't look at her, but Adrestia studied her face. Frustration, touch of loneliness, and even a bit helplessness. Her mind worked on a plan to just end this.

"I thought you had been allowed outside the palace grounds a few times," Adrestia finally said. "Care to explain what changed."

"I think mother and father found something they didn't like while researching if anyone else could get in the same way Nehellenia did," Serena answered. Then she looked at Mars oddly. "No one's said anything to you?"

"Not as of yet. If not, I suppose it's because they don't have anything substantial _to_ tell us," she replied.

"Hmm…" Serena hummed.

A moment of awkward silence passed.

"Though, they aren't doing the kingdom any favors sheltering you this much," Adrestia admitted.

"You think I need to be among the people?"

"Yes," Adrestia replied.

Another round of silence.

"Wanna hear about my home?" Adrestia asked.

Serena looked at her evenly.

"Go ahead," she finally said.

Adrestia walked over to her, leaning her back against the wall and crossing her arms.

Let's see…" she said, looking up at the ceiling deep in thought.

"At the Martian Family Estate, there are rolling hills reaching clear to the dome. My sisters and I loved playing on those grassy mounds when we weren't training. One time…"

However, just hearing about the outside world wasn't the same as actually being there, and Serena's pent up frustration at being a prisoner in her own home only grew with the years. Still, she attempted to keep herself entertained when not busy learning how to handle the court or finishing her education. Even the simplest change could become something to be excited about to one trapped in a barless prison.

Three years passed and she turned fifteen.

Evening, 9989 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. 991 A.D., Earth reckoning

"Princess!" Luna cried as they both raced through the garden.

"Come on! Do try to keep up, Luna," Serena called over her shoulder as she ran with her dress hiked up. "Mother just had the loveliest new flowers planted on the far side. You have to see."

Serena wasn't watching where she was going, which was one half of worried the then aged 12 Luna. The other half was that Serena had kicked off her shoes. At that time, the little black-haired, crimson eyed girl was the very picture of youth, displaying none of the sternness of her older self many centuries in the future. She wore the black clothes of a maid paired with a white apron. It often amazed Luna that Serena could still sometimes behave like a child half her age.

"Princess!" Luna repeated, clasping her princess's shoes in her arms as she ran. "You can't just run around the garden barefoot! What if you stepped on a thorn!"

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Luna," Serena giggled as she rounded another corner, taking her past the rose bushes. "What could-OWIE!"

Serena stumbled to a stop and fall forward, landing on her arms and elbows in the grass. Luna came into view and paused, panting. When she spotted Serena lying on the ground, clutching at one of her feet painfully, she sighed in resignation and walked over to her.

"Ugh…" Luna moaned. "See? I told you!"

Serena looked up at her, with tiny tears welling up in her eyes. Luna sat down beside her, setting aside the shoes. Then she held out one hand as she fished into her skirt pockets with the other.

"Here, let me see it," Luna said, and Serena obeyed. She maneuvered herself so the ankle rested in Luna's hand. Sure enough, there was a thorn imbedded deep in it. "See, right there. It's a thorn. How many times do we all have to tell you to wear shoes when you go outside?"

"Sorry…" Serena whimpered.

Luna took out a little box of items she had gathered for such occasions.

"Even just to the garden, you should keep them on," Luna scolded her as she took out a pair of pliers.

"I understand," Serena replied, feeling sheepish over being chastised by a girl years younger than her.

"And honestly, getting so excited over flowers…" Luna muttered.

"It's not like I have anything better to do around here," Serena grumbled.

Luna looked at her briefly, and after that pause, yanked out the thorn.

"Ow!" Serena whined. "That hurt!"

"It's a thorn," Luna stated, holding it up still in the grasp of the pliers.

"And you can be very annoying when you want," Serena retorted.

"Of course," Luna replied, tossing the offending piece of pointed flora away.

She regarded her Princess again unhappily.

"You need to take your position as heir to the throne more seriously," she said.

Serena's eyes twitched and then she shot up, onto the feet, surprising the younger girl.

"I spend every day of my life in this wretched place with most of my time spent learning how to run the Godforsaken kingdom someday! And you..." Serena pointed a finger at her angrily. "YOU have the nerve I don't take my position seriously?!"

Luna had tried retreating backwards and fell onto her back.

"I'm sorry! So sorry!" she blurted out, unable to process the Princess's outburst.

"Oh, forget it! I'm leaving. I don't even want to the stupid flowers that much, anyway! And don't follow me! I want to be alone!" Serena shouted and stormed, still without her shoes.

"Wait, you forgot these!" Luna cried, waving her footwear up over her head.

Serena paused, marched back, sharply took them from Luna, and put them on without a word. Then she stormed off again. Luna sighed, knowing the next few days in the palace were going to be unpleasant for everyone.

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 3: The Turning Point

**Celestial Warrior Moon:**

 **Memories of the Silver Millennium**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any _Sailor Moon_ related properties _._ _Sailor Moon_ is the property of Toei Animation and Naoko Takeuchi. This is a fan work created to celebrate the work. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Cover image by _SomeoftheFame_. Thank you so, so much, man.

 **Chapter Three**

 **Princess Serena:**

 **The Turning Point**

Morning, Delta 9th, 9989 M.N.S, Moon Kingdom reckoning. May 1st, 991 A.D., Earth reckoning

"Now bring up the Transporter access points onto the display, like I've shown you."

"Yes, mother," Serena replied.

They were seated in the palace's command center, at one of the many monitors around the station. The room was circular with a single large 3D holographic display in the middle, which at all times showed the Earth and the Moon, or whatever portions of either one they were zoomed in on. The tables the computers sat on were in the shape of half circles with a space between the points for personnel to walk through. The innermost row was a ring of eight computers right next to the central hologram. Four per table. And the one beyond that had twelve computers, divided between those two desks. And so on for two more rows, but with longer and longer stands. There were 56 consoles in all throughout the room, minus any laptops.

Serena and Serenity were seated at one of the innermost tables presently, as those were the ones that could monitor and control the Transports. The princess had been learning to operate the computers in there for years either from Celine, Lares, or her mother (like today). Neither of her usual tutors could make it because Celine had been called down to Earth by Myddin, which left Lares managing the training schedule for the four Warriors who had remained on the moon. So today, it was mother and daughter.

Today, Serena was in what would be considered casual wear for a royal. A knee-length simple gown with no sleeves and leggings paired with slippers. Her mother was dressed similarly, because Chiron was handling any matters the courts were too busy with. Which is why a land dispute had ended up in Serenity's lap that one time. So on this day, Serenity had more time to personally show Serena additional duties and skills she'd need to know.

"Access points... access points," Serena muttered as she worked.

She zoomed the hologram display out to show the whole Earth. It had been set to view just the African continent as Serenity quizzed Serena on the purposes of their botanical studies there. Using the smaller screen in front of them, the princess brought up the menu to change the functions from "Earth Research Projects" to "Transporter Stations". The orange spots covering the three-dimensional image of the planet changed accordingly, now showing so many the uninitiated might think the Earth had contracted something like chicken pox or measles.

"Now, check on the status of the station in Poland. Yes, like that. Very good. Serena, can you tell me why I've sent our best Epidemiologists there?" Serenity asked.

Serena quirked a brow in slight annoyance. She knew her mother just wanted to make sure she had been paying attention while they managed Moon-Earth operations earlier that day. Truth be told, Serena loved the topic of the planet, but she hated learning about it under her mother. It meant she had to work harder to curb her enthusiasm.

"Well, here goes..." Serena thought as she took in a breath before speaking.

"Because there's a mysterious illness wiping out whole villages, but none of the symptoms match up to any of the prior epidemics that have ever hit Europe before," Serena replied.

"Our current theory?" Serenity prompted.

"You have two, actually," Serena replied.

Serenity smiled, happy her daughter had caught that.

"And?"

"The first is that someone imported either diseased goods from another land, or a disease carrier wandered in. The other is that The Dark Kingdom did it," Serena said.

"The likeliness of each option?" Serenity asked.

"Eh... Actually, they're all about as possible as the others until your scientists can narrow it down," Serena replied. "The only reason you even sent them in is because of the possibility The Dark Kingdom did it."

"Very good," Serenity said, with a nod. She leaned in and put her arm around Serena. "Never assume conspiracy when it could be simple misfortune. Now, what is the status of the team?"

"You're not going to ask me what really made you suspect The Dark Kingdom?" Serena asked.

"You've shown you were listening, but go ahead if you want," Serenity replied.

"You think the timing is suspicious," Serena explained. "The outbreak happened at the same time agents of the Dark Kingdom roused a bunch of faerie dogs from their hibernation under London."

And that was why Celine had been planetside for a week now.

"Very good. Now let us see if the research team is faring well," Serenity said.

Serena punched up the time codes, which displayed that her mother's science team hadn't returned yet.

"They're still out on the field, but nothing surprising there. In Poland, it's only... just past 5 in the evening. Want me to check the tracking devices in their wrist units?"

Serenity nodded and brought up the digital map on the smaller screen in front of them. It displayed about a dozen blips, all with normal vital-sign readouts. Then Serena hit the satellite image of the area and got a look at endless green, rolling hills, rocks, trees, and more all arranged in natural controlled chaos. None of them had to been designed to be where they are by architects or gardeners.

"...and next I want you to... Serena? Serena, are you listening to me?" Serenity asked, turning back to her daughter.

But Serena just stared longingly at the at the sunshine blanketed landscape, wondering what it felt like to truly be under its rays, catching its warmth. She had overheard members of her mother's staff talk about how the sun bathed land in a heat no air-conditioning available on the moon could replicate.

"You can't go there."

"Huh?" Serena broke from her reverie not understanding those words. She looked to her mother. "Sorry, I spaced out. What was that?"

Serenity was very displeased that she still wanted to go down the planet surface. Her lips were fixed in a deep frown.

"You can't go there, Serena," she repeated. "Ever."

Serena flinched, but knew better than to argue. She shook her head and turned away from her mother defiantly.

" _I know_. You can't stop me from dreaming of it," she firmly stated.

A bit of remorse crossed Serenity's eyes, and she sighed.

"We'll talk about this later," she finally said.

That made Serena finally turn to face her again.

"...You could at least let me out of the palace from time to time."

"We'll discuss that later, too, after the ball tonight," Serenity replied.

"Always later," Serena muttered angrily.

Serenity side-eyed her, but refrained from punishing her as she understood her daughter's frustrations better than she thought. She recalled her own arguments back in her youth with her own mother, which had driven a wedge between them in the long run.

"I'll consider how I can meet her halfway," she mentally decided.

She had one idea right off the bat.

"You know, Celine will be back just in time for the ball. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to tell you about the things she saw down there," Serenity 's eyes lit right up.

"Really?"

"Provided you finish today's lesson on time."

"Yes, Mother!"

* * *

"Are you sure this is really a good idea, Sere? I mean, maybe we should tell her first."

"Don't worry about it, dear. We'll just let her mingle among the Lords, Earls, and Barons, and see who she likes. Besides, Marquess Inanna will be here tonight. We'll let them meet and dance, and see how it works out. If they hit it off, we'll run the idea by her."

"I still think we should let her know what this ball is really about. I mean, tonight could be life-changing for her. An arrangement could be more of an ordeal than a blessing. It nearly was for you."

"Please trust me, Chiron."

"I do, and I will. Just please drop it for now if this... attempt to fish the pond doesn't work out. She's old enough to start considering these things, but that doesn't mean she's ready."

"I know. That's why we're only having a ball tonight. We won't be making anything official for a while now."

* * *

Later that day, Serena stepped self-confidently out into the grand ballroom of the Moon Palace. She appeared at the top of the steps overlooking the whole ballroom which was already full of guests, all of whom had their attentions on the royals and the Guardian Warriors. The large area was not only massive wall-to-wall, but it was two stories in height as well. On the second floor level there was a walkway that went clear around the room overlooking everything. At the rear of the room, the platform descended into a pair of matching staircases at opposite corners. They each ended at a large landing halfway between floors. Then a lower, single staircase led the rest of the way into the ballroom. Standing front and center at the top of the steps were Serenity and Chiron. Serena stood at her mother's right hand, and a pace back from her. Lares, Adrestia, Harmonia, and Lita all stood behind them in a single row. Every one of them were dressed their best for the ball. A Herald stood one step down from the landing and off to the right.

Serenity wore her elegant white gown with the silver butterfly wings attached to the back just below the straps. They were transparent and delicate-looking. Serena was dressed similarly, but her dress lacked the wings and it had a slightly bluish tint. The princess looked around, but didn't see Celine yet, much to her disappointment. While three of her Guardians had seen fit to wear proper ballgowns in their family's colors, Mars was dressed in a formal military uniform. It wasn't dissimilar to that of a British Queen's Guard, sans the big hat, and the pants were white. Her long hair was pulled back in a bun with the tips allowed to flail out slightly.

Serena looked around at the crowd.

"Goodness, there are certainly a lot of men here tonight. I don't know if there'll be enough dance partners to go around," she thought.

Alas, she still did not spy the person she sought.

"I hope she makes it. If something happened down on the planet to hold her up, we might not find out in time to help her," Serena mentally added.

She then focused on the crowd and was greeted by the grinning faces of the nobles, but especially the men. She noted with slight worry that a few even seem to be staring at her hungrily.

"Alright..." she thought. "What's that about?"

"Lords and Ladies of the court, I present, our Queen, Serenity," The Herald announced. "And her husband, His Lordship, Chiron."

On cue, Serenity and Chiron descended the steps, smiling and nodding in acknowledge of every kind word called to them from the crowd until they were on the ballroom floor and hobnobbing. Serena now took center stage at the steps, flanked by her Guardians.

"Oh, look at her. She's all grown up," a noblewoman uttered from the crowd.

Serena bowed before the crowd. Behind, her guardian Celestial Warriors did the same. The nobles bowed in return. After that greeting, the Herald spoke up again.

"And now presenting, Our Crown Princess, Serena and her Guardian Warriors! Lares fon Mercury, Harmonia fon Venus, Adrestia fon Mars II, and Leda Callisto Europa Jupiter!"

Serena was the first to begin descending towards the crowd, and the others followed suit a few steps behind. She stopped before passing the Harold, and turned to him.

"Is Celine coming?" she asked.

The Herald shrugged his wide shoulders.

"I have not been informed. She may yet come before the night is ended," he replied.

"Alright, thank you, sir," she replied, bowing her head once.

"Milady," he bowed deeply in response.

"Heh!" Serena heard an amused chuckled behind her.

She stopped again, and looked behind her towards the source. It was Harmonia.

"Venus?" Serena asked.

Harmonia leaned on the banister with her elbow and looked down into the crowd.

"You're just curious about her mission, right? When she gets back she'll have to use a spatula to pry you off," Harmonia said, wryly.

Lita and Adrestia both chuckled while Lares only allowed herself a crooked half-grin at that comment.

"T-that's not true!" Serena argued bashfully.

"~Is that so?~" Harmonia chimed.

While their Princess sputtered and Venus had a good laugh at her embarrassment, Lita looked around the dance floor, playing with her ponytail uncomfortably. On more than occasion, her imposing presence had scared off potential dance partners. She was hoping tonight would be different. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat when she noticed a prospective young man wave at her and raise a toast in her direction. She blushed and started to take a step down to go over to him, but an arm blocked her way. Lita glanced over at the one had stopped her with annoyance. It was Adrestia. She had stepped forward and leaned over to block her.

"Hey!" Lita grunted. "Let me pass!"

"You're not breaking rank and going down ahead of the Princess. You will abide by the proper conduct in public," Adrestia replied firmly.

"Ugh!" Lita crossed her arms and turned away.

"This is why I hate the high life," she muttered.

"Hey," Serena said unhappily, looking over her shoulder and up at them. "No fighting."

Lita turned and looked past Adrestia at their Princess. Then she signed and forced herself to relax. She knew she had to stand down.

"You're right. Forgive me. I spoke out of term, I allowed myself to get excited and I almost break rank. Will not happen again, Adrestia," she said, and curtsied.

"You're pardoned. This time," Adrestia said.

"Come on, girls. Let's just get down to our adoring public, already," Harmonia prompted.

"Right. What a joy that'll be," Adrestia replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Despite that scuffle, they were soon among the nobles, and while Lares stayed with Serena, the others had gone off on their own. It had not been a mutual decision. Lares had looked around to find them suddenly gone. She realized she'd been singled out as the one who had to stay with Serena by the others, and her consent wasn't considered necessary. Gazing out into the crowd, she saw Harmonia and Lita had already hit the dance floor each with a partner to waltz with while Adrestia was over by the drinks, laughing at some joke passed between herself and another soldier. And there Lares was, being forced to endure the same banal conversations their Princess was.

"I don't mind watching Serena, but you could have asked," Lares thought grumpily behind a pleasant smile she gave to the crowd.

She did, however, grab the first alcoholic beverage that passed them by on a tray and discreetly downed it. She knew it wasn't her wisest move with her family in the crowd, but right now, she needed this if she and Serena were going to be forced to listen to...

"...and so I had this pocket watch custom made by Mechanicles. He developed a new mechanism that keeps it from winding down..."

"Ohh! It's so pretty! I love the inscription."

"Yes, very nice. Custom made, you say? I think I would like to have one done. How can I reach this Mechanicles?"

"It's... nice," Serena said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

Lares was going to need another drink. Thankfully, another servant was about to pass by with another tray of alcoholic beverages.

* * *

"I see the ball is already under way," Celine said, looking up at the palace from the front yard.

Bright lights, music, and the sounds of chatter and laughter came out through the lit windows as Celine's entourage approached, clean and groomed, but still in their military uniforms and a few still in their battle gear. She smirked and looked back at her men.

"Shall we crash it, gents?" she asked.

Her guards chuckled and there were a few outright chortles of laughter.

"Ay, Duchess of Neaera, let us shock and horrify the kingdom's finest with our presence! It might even do them some good!" one man replied heartily.

Celine hid a smile as they crossed the threshold of the main entrance into the palace.

"I wonder how my little cousin and my little Warriors have been doing in my absence?" she thought. "Well, no better way to find out than to catch them on the back of their feet."

She hid this mischievous side behind a firm stare as she led the way.

* * *

"I'm actually a bit of poet, myself."

"Oh, are you?" Serena asked, politely.

"Why yes," the dark bluette young man replied. "Would you like to hear one of my works?"

"Oh, certainly? Recite to me," Serena prompted.

"...There is a point where politeness becomes deadly. You know that, right, Princess?" Lares thought.

"Very well. _Old Leo's Lion_ , by Kouros fon Erato, that being me," he said dramatically as he began his recital.

Serena and Lares both smiled, allowing the young man to go on. He'd sauntered over and immediately began wooing the Princess.

 _ **"** Old Leo's Lion stands bold and proud,_

 _A tan oaken figure roaring loud._

 _His call goes out for man or beast,_

 _Be they from the west or the east._

 _Old Leo's chisel shakes in his grip,_

 _Age making his steadiness dip._

 _The weeds of a life unfulfilled,_

 _Tangle him like a garden untilled._

 _Old Leo's time is short, but he is beyond caring,_

 _All his life he was never daring._

 _The oak lion stands proud, a work finely completed,_

 _Still daring and graceful after Leo's life depleted."_

With that, the youthful man bowed low before her.

"So how was it? A bit unpolished, I know, but I feel it's on the right path. Not something I can put in my book just yet, naturally."

"It was good," Serena said honestly. "A bit sad, but I think you have a gift."

Kouros beamed, pleased that the Princess enjoyed what she was hearing. He stepped forward confidently and took her hand, kissing it.

"In that case, dear Princess. Perhaps we can talk more on the dance floor?" he offered.

"Oh, I..." Serena replied hesitantly.

She glanced back at Lares, who was sipping her third glass of wine now. The Warrior was about to give the Princess her permission to go dance with him when another young, prospective noble marched over.

"The Princess, dancing with a mere Baronet?" he asked, mockingly. "Perish the thought."

"Good evening, Earl fon Hestia," Kouros greeting with cold politeness. "How fares _your_ evening?"

"Quite well," the Earl replied, not looking away from Serena with predatory eyes. "You are more of a beauty each time I see you, just like your mother."

"Thank you, for the... lovely compliment," Serena said, giving a fake smile.

"Hello, Montague," Lares said without a hint of warmth.

He looked at whoever said his given name in the corner of his eyes, disliking having it used so casually. When he saw it was one of the Warriors, he faced her and bowed.

"Oh, Lady Lares," he greeted, attempting to hide the distain in his own voice as he bowed. "Hail and well met this fine meeting. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Monty, Monty, Monty," Lares muttered, and smiled coldly knowing exactly how to anger him. "The Earl blessed with an Earthling name."

Montague ground his teeth behind his lips at that reminder. His left eye twitched once, but then he smiled and turned to Serena again. The short, thin man smiled at her and bowed low, allowing his long black hair to fall forward. Kouros stood rigidly, staring hatefully at the man, disliking at how easily he was able to sideline him.

"Hello and welcome, Earl fon Hestia," Serena added. "I trust you find the palace's company, food, and beverage agreeable?"

"Quite," he said, straightening up. "Your mother always stocks the best wine for these occasions."

"Something we agree on," Lares thought, staring at the glass in her hand. "How displeasing."

"Naturally," Serena smiled, but glanced around again with her eyes hoping to see Celine.

Lares took another sip.

"Forgive me for prying, Princess, but your gaze a bit off far and away tonight," Montague said. "Something troubles you?"

Though from his tone, Lares could tell he was just annoyed that Serena wasn't that interested in _him_.

"Oh, nothing at all!" Serena waved off his question.

She grabbed Kouros's arm and pulled him close.

"I was just looking for an open spot on the dance floor so I may take Baronet Kouros up on his offer for a dance," she replied.

Of the two men, he was the less smarmy, so he was won by default.

"Aw, but as I said, it would be improper for the Princess to dance with a mere Baronet," Montague said, closing the distance between himself and his pretty.

He offered his hand to her.

"An Earl is a more fetching prize, as I believe your own father was a few ranks lower than that, himself, before he was betrothed to the Queen," he said.

"A Baron," Serena answered firmly. "Only one notch above a Baronet, and my father has been noted as one of the better royal First Men our kingdom has ever done, so pick your words about low-ranking nobles wisely."

He did not miss the warning tone in her voice, but before Montague could speak again, he suddenly felt something cold touching the back of his neck. Confused, he reached back and gripped whatever it was. He gasped and jumped when he realized it was an icicle poking him. He spun around to see Lares finishing her drink with one hand, and controlling the construct with the other.

"The Princess will dance with whoever she chooses, _Monty_ ," she told him sternly. "Now leave them be, and I do not want to hear about reprisals against Kouros' family after tonight."

Montague glared at her as Serena pulled Kouros towards the dance floor, away from him. As soon as they found an empty spot, they faced each other and began the slow dance. Kouros cleared his throat with slight awkwardly, deciding to speak.

"In al honesty, though, your eyes were far away," Kouros said as they began waltzing. "Who were you looking for?"

"Oh, you caught that, too. Forgive me, I was just hoping my cousin would be joining us tonight," Serena answered.

"Duchess Neaera?" Kouros asked.

"Yes," Serena said. "She's been planetside for weeks now, and I was hoping to see her tonight."

"Is that so? I didn't realize she had left the kingdom," Kouros replied.

"Yes, it was an emergency," Serena explained. "I haven't gotten the details from mother, but I overheard the use of the world 'giants'."

"Giants?" Kouros asked in surprise.

Before she could answer, another voice cut in.

"I would have thought her absence to be a reprieve honestly."

Both dance partners turned just in time for Montague to step in, cutting Kouros off.

"May I have this dance?" he asked.

"Ugh!" Serena growled, but minded where she was. She curtsied and accepted his hand. "If it pleases his lordship..."

"Now see here...!" Kouros protested.

"Come, come, now," Montague said as he and Serena dancing a slow circle. "Don't make a scene. Just be a good fellow and get yourself a drink."

Kouros clenched his hands into fists, growling under his breath. He'd asked the Princess to a dance first, damn it! Knowing better than to stir up trouble with an Earl, he backed sullenly until he was at the edge of the dance floor, watching them angrily with a crossed arms. Lares suddenly burst from the crowd next to him, breathlessly, making Kouros jump in surprise.

"Where is he...?" she hissed.

Then she spotted Serena dancing with him.

"Damn it!"Lares muttered, crossing her arms.

He'd managed to get away from her watchful eyes when a drunken lord bumped into her, knocking her to the floor. In that short moment she was being helped back to her feet, he had gotten away to his prize.

"Well, if he thinks Serena will submit to his attempts at a courtship, he has another thing coming," she thought, narrowing her eyes.

What a pair she and Kouros made, both fuming silently at a mutual enemy, arms crossed.

"Now where were we?" Montague asked Serena.

"Well, before you rudely interrupted, I _was_ discussing my cousin's absence with Kouros."

"Yes, from what I understand, she cracks the whip on you all pretty hard," Montague said flippantly.

"She works hard to prepare me for the throne and turn my other Warriors into the best they can be," Serena stated firmly.

"A real slave driver. I'd know, I attended academy with her in my youth," Montague said. "Even then, I could tell she was a perfectionist. She was an over-achiever, and expected the same from everyone else. She absolutely obliterated our grade curve, making the rest of us look bad. Sadly, none could put her in her place."

Serena narrowed her eyes at him.

"Her _place_ as you so eloquently call it, is well above _you_ ," she said sternly. "You know nothing about her."

"Please, everyone knows about her," Montague replied. "A quick learner and early bloomer. She even Awakened as a Warrior earlier than most."

"She was _made_ to Awaken as a Warrior earlier than most," Serena told him with controlled anger. "Because her mother the previous Moon died."

"Still, she could have stood not to be such a tall poppy. With her whole life secured, she had no reason to stand out like she did. I could tell she looked down on us," Montague said.

"Please do not presume to know my Celine based on hearsay or your own perceptions," Serena replied coldly.

"Apologies," Montague conceded.

"I just wanted to speak with her, at any rate," Serena explained.

"About what, if I may ask? She was never a sterling conversationalist."

"Do I need a reason to want to speak with kin?" Serena asked.

"In my experience, a single word between kin can be one too many," he replied.

Serena sighed, disliking him and the turn this one-sided conversation was taking.

"Well, aren't you going to cut back in?" Lares asked Kouros.

"How can I? I'm a mere Baronet," he answered, glumly.

"She's the Princess. She can dance with whoever she wants. Now would you please rescue my Princess from that brute?" Lares begged.

"Alright..." Kouros muttered as he obediently went over.

Lares sighed, taking another of sip. She swayed, starting to feel tipsy.

"Drinking on the job? I thought I trained you all better than this."

"Eep!" Lares jumped, and then went rigid.

She slowly turned around until she was staring up into the amused half-grin of Celine. Her Captain had her arms crossed as she gazed upon her Warrior of Mercury.

"Ah! Celine... I...! Look!"

Celine followed where Lares was pointing and immediately spotted Serena and Montague on the dance floor. She groaned.

"Oh, I _see_. _He_ showed up tonight," Celine moaned.

"So, you see, Captain, I-I..."

"Nay, I understand," Celine said, taking a spot next to Lares. She rested a hand on her shoulder. "I see you've had a run-in with Earl Montague. So how many have you had?"

"Three and a half."

"Then I'd say you haven't had enough," Celine said, taking a wine glass as a waiter passed.

She toasted Lares.

"Here's to saving our Princess from bad rubbish," she said.

"Hear hear!" Lares responded and both women drank.

"Now then, who is that over there trying to cut into their dance?"

"That's Baronet Kouros. He's also a potential suiter, but he's a lot less horrible than Monty," Lares replied.

"Setting a bit of a low bar, aren't you?" Celine asked.

"Well, Baronet Kouros can take 'no' for an answer, for starters," Lares explained.

"Well, then he certainly _is_ an improvement over Monty. Let's watch how this scene explodes, shall we?"

* * *

"Excuse me! But I believe I will dance with Kouros! You interrupted us earlier, so it's only fair that he can cut in again! Ugh! You stupid men! You think I'm just some prize to be won, don't you! I should never have come here tonight! All I really wanted was for Celine to tell me everything about her time planetside!" Serena cried.

And with that, she shoved Montague away, and stepped away from both of them. For a moment, Montague's face flicked with anger and disdain at the rejection, but he smiled again quickly enough.

"Oh, forgive me, Your Highness. Perhaps I was a bit too presumptuous. Please, if it is truly your desire to speak with Kouros more, then I would be remiss to deny you," he said, and retreated back.

Kouros gave him a hard side-eye and before approaching Serena again, offering his hand.

"No, thank you," Serena said, crossing her arms. "I'm no longer in a dancing mood."

"How unfortunate," Kouros said, letting his arm fall. "Shall we just talk, instead?"

"No, I wish to be left _alone_ ," Serena said.

"As you wish, then. I bid you tonight, dear Princess," Kouros said, bowing.

A pang of guilt hit her for using such a rough tone with him. Serena sighed, calming herself as he straightened again.

"Thank you for understanding," she said to him in a much nicer tone this time.

Kouros smiled and nodded to her in return. She gave a shallow curtsy to him before turning on heel and disappearing into the crowd.

When she was gone, Kouros glared at Montague.

"You just had to butt in, didn't you?" he demanded.

Montague chuckled with a slight condescending edge in his voice.

"Twas only my right. I _am_ an Earl. I'm closer to entering into negotiations with Her Majesty, The Queen, than you ever will be," Montague retorted.

"And yet I think I made a substantially better impression," Kouros shot back and stomping away.

Montague at first stared after him with a hard eye, before shrugging and turning away.

* * *

"Well, now. Here's to our Princess handling that rather well," Celine said, again clinking her glass against Lares'.

"Yes. Ahem."

Celine looked at Lares after her little cough. The bluette swayed on her feet.

"Perhaps you should stick to water or carbonated seltzer water for the rest of the evening," Celine said.

"Don't worry about me. Th-this is just to take the edge off."

"Well, I'm taking over watching our Princess, so you can relax. Now..."

Celine spotted a dejected Kouros walk past. He stopped and unhappily leaned against a beam, shoving his hands into the jacket pockets. The Duchess looked between him and Lares.

"Our little Baronet is over there, looking quite lonely and unhappy," she said.

"Hmm?" Lares hummed, following Celine's eyeline. "Oh. So he is."

"Perhaps you might bring him out of his stupor. Now excuse me, I will go find Serena."

"Yes, Captain."

* * *

"...and so he has me at his mercy, and what does he do?! He starts monologuing about his plans to smuggle himself and his followers down to the planet surface and rule as gods in some remote corner! This gives me enough time to undo the ropes and take his head before he even knew what happened!" Adrestia finished her story.

The knights and guards all laughed heartily at her tale. Morrigan clapped Adrestia across the back, letting out a whoop of laughter of her own.

"I remember him! He was part of that insurgency! What were they called again? The Brotherhood of... uh... The Brotherhood of..."

Morrigan scratched her chin as she tried to recall, and Adrestia was of no help, already being a little tipsy from the alcohol she'd consumed.

"The Brotherhood of the Great Descent," Phobos said, helpfully as she took a sip of wine. "Typical con artists."

"Yeah, seriously," Orion chimed in, leaning against the wall just outside of the group. "A very typical story. What two-bit fraud _wasn't_ snuck down to Earth and cast a little magic or flashed around a little scientific equipment to get worshiped as a god?"

"Just like that Zeus fellow did to the, um, what were they called, Deimos?" Phobos asked.

"The Greeks, sister," Deimos replied, and shook her head sadly. "Poor things. If they'd only known their 'gods' were just rogue Lunarian magicians."

"Led by a _very_ _horny_ rogue Lunarian magician," Orion muttered, eliciting more laughs from the crowd. "How many kids did that guy have again? I remember the insane one who ended up killing his own family and performed twelve heroic acts to atone for it. But after him, I just lose all track."

"Herakles?" Deimos said, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, him. Speaking of, what was the reason half-Lunarians get such heightened physical abilities again?"

"Uh..." any number of soldiers in the crowd replied, including Adrestia and her twin.

"Dunno!" one man replied, and downed his beer.

"Well, anyway!" Adrestia chuckled, and shrugged uncaringly. "Here's to punishing bad rubbish! And to anyone in the future who thinks they can shirk justice!"

"Hear hear!" one of her audience said, raising his drink.

The rest all followed suit, all too drunk to care how loud they were. They were off duty and allowed to celebrate on the sidelines of the ball. That was all that mattered to them.

Serena watched them, not far off, at another table, drinking some punch.

"At least they're having fun. Thank your stars you don't have suitors singling you out like prey," she thought enviously. "Ugh! I wish I knew why mother even called for this stupid ball. I should have asked earlier."

"Ah, there you are, Serena! I've been looking everywhere for you."

Serena turned to see her mother, escorted by a young man she barely recognized. The sight of him soured her mood further, but she forced herself not to show it. Who was he, again? The Marquess of Inanna, wasn't it? Yes, he was! One of Harmonia's relatives, too. She smiled for her mother.

"Oh, good evening, mother," she said.

"Good evening, Serena," Serenity replied.

"And good evening to you, too Marquess Inanna," Serena added, turning to him with a curtsy. "Do you find our palace and its trappings agreeable?"

"Quite," the man replied.

"Oh, you're already acquainted with Marquess Duzumi fon Inanna?" Serenity asked happily.

"Yes, we ran into each other when I visited my cousin last year," Duzumi explained. "Nothing too noteworthy was said, though."

He was tall, almost as tall as Chiron, but not as broadly shouldered. He had red hair, pale skin, and the brightest blue eyes.

"I should have known. Serena does love to meet new people," Serenity said.

She turned to her attention fully to her daughter now.

"How are you enjoying the ball, my dear?" she asked.

"It's been an adventure, certainly, mother! I've already encountered some very _interesting_ people," Serena said with her best happy tone.

"Good, good," Serenity replied, looking between Serena and Duzumi. "Now then, since the two of you have saved me the trouble of introducing, I'll just get to it. Duzumi is the son of an old friend, so I wanted the two of you to meet. Will you do the honors of being his dance partner this evening?"

Oh, Great Mother, not again!

"Oh, certainly," Serena replied, smiling.

"Very good. I will let you two be then," Serenity explained, stepping back.

Duzumi walked in, taking up the space in front of Serena where the Queen had been. He offered his hand, the same as Montague and Kouros had earlier.

"Would you do me the pleasure of showing me around a bit?" he asked.

"I will," Serena replied, unsure of why this turn of events had happened.

"If either of you need me, I'll be on the dance floor with my husband" Serenity said. "Behave yourselves now."

Yes, mother," Serena murmured as Duzumi kissed her hand.

With that, Serenity retreated into the crowd and quickly found her husband waiting where she'd left him. He took her hand and they stepped out among the other slow-dancing couples.

"Well, I will say he's at least less boorish than either of those buffoons who were fighting over her earlier," Chiron said.

"Yes, I think we can cross Earl Montague off the list of potential suitors. Baronet Kouros still has some promise, though, even if he was only interested in her because she's my daughter," Serenity replied.

"Yes," Chiron said as they went into a dip. "His ability to listen and wait his turn to speak does display a certain refinement that other brat lacked. I'd like to have 'Monty' barred from the palace altogether for how he treated my Little Moonlight."

"You know we can't do that just because of poor manners, but I will ensure he's never alone with her again. One of the girls will always be with her if he's around. Lares in particular seems to have an effect on him. Maybe her."

"Very well," Chiron relented. "Speaking of the girls, is there any reason Celine chose to sneak instead of letting the Herald announce her?"

"She said it was in case she needed the element of surprise if any of the suitors can't control himself."

"Ah, of course. Ever the strategist."

* * *

Serena was beginning to suspect the real reason why this ball had been organized. An unequally high volume of men compared to women had come. Then three dance proposals from prospective young men eyeing her had occurred all in one evening. She had been expecting A dance invite, but the looks she was getting from male nobles this evening had her on edge and suspecting of something afoot. She hoped she was wrong about this, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling her mother was trying to set her up for an arrangement. She'd always put the prospects of marrying into the back of her mind and hoped if she didn't bring it up, her mother wouldn't impose it on her before she was ready. She sighed as she and Duzumi stepped out from the ballroom onto the veranda overlooking the palace garden.

Neither one noticed Celine silently walk up to a column and situate herself behind it nonchalantly. The Warrior considered how to discipline the man if he tried anything as she observed, sizing him up all the while.

"And here it is," she told him in a quiet, sweeping an arm slowly out. "One of mother's pride and joys."

She leaned forward, putting her hands on the rail.

"It's quite expansive," she admitted. "If you didn't know your way around, you could almost get lost if not for the high palace walls there to serve as guideposts."

"Beautiful," he said, staring right at Serena.

In the corner of her eye, she'd noticed and flushed. They missed Celine's "Ugh..." from behind the column.

"You should... probably actually look at the garden, since you made me show it to you," she said, awkwardly.

"To be honest, I'm more interested in just talking with you alone," Duzumi said, leaning on the rail. "I find to difficult to strike up conversation when just anyone can come and interrupt."

Serena recalled how Montague had been able to do just that and found herself kind of agreeing with him. Though she still couldn't put aside the feeling he had ulterior motives.

"Oh, really?" Serena asked, deciding not to press him for answers, since he couldn't pull anything inside the palace. "I suppose you may have a point, though. The most _insulate_ ruffian named Montague fon Hestia barged into a conversation I was having with another fellow, Kouros."

"The Earl of Hestia? Mm. Yes, I know him, unfortunately," Duzumi muttered. "As far as he's concerned, anything he wants already belongs to him."

He glanced at Serena intently.

"And I'd imagine that applies to you as well," he added.

"I'm the Princess, and he's a mere Earl. He will respect that or else face the wrath of my Warriors," Serena said firmly.

"Montague's already had a taste of Celine's wrath back in their academy days from what I hear," Duzumi mused, glancing around. "If I recall correctly, it was something about him having a difficulty taking no for an answer."

"I can believe that..." Serena uttered blearily. "So what happened?"

"They peeled him off the floor and he spent the night in an infirmary," Duzumi answered. "I can't imagine how much worse it'll be if she catches him making advances on you."

"It sounds like he didn't learn his lesson at all," Serena thought, feeling the need to gag a bit.

"He left out the part where they ended up having to extract one of Monty's testicles," Celine thought.

"I doubt my mother would let such a boorish oaf near me, anyway," Serena said.

"Boorish? Oh, yes, the man's as boorish as an Earthling. He suits his namesake well," Duzumi spoke.

Serena laughed, but Celine stiffened when he said that. Her patience with Marquess fon Inanna shortened at the slight towards the planet she'd been to for weeks.

"I think comparing him to Earth-dwellers is an insult to them," she said lightly.

With that, they both had a quiet chuckle.

"Indeed, indeed," Duzumi said.

"So why the need for privacy, really?" Serena asked.

"Yes, that. I wish to get to know you. You don't strike me as being like other courtiers," Duzumi explained.

He straightened and put his hands in his jacket pockets, absently looking up at the Earth, with only the edges on one side illuminated green and blue under the sun's light in a crescent shape.

"You're nowhere near as full of yourself as many of the ruling class I've met," he said. "You possess an eagerness to listen to others and a humility almost like the servants. It intrigues me."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she stated.

"At least _someone_ noticed the hard work I put into disciplining her," Celine thought.

With that, Serena glanced up over the walls towards the stars and at the golden transparent veil of light cast by the sun as it peaked around from just behind the Earth.

"And another thing I've noticed about you..." he trailed off.

Serena turned and looked at him again.

"Your eyes are far off, seeing beyond the palace walls, longing for the larger world outside," he went on. "Seeing in your mind's eye what you've only sampled the few times you've been allowed into the city. Those blue orbs hunger for more."

"Am I really that transparent?" she wondered.

"Odd, considering you are the Princess. A life with every comfort at your beckon call. What more could the daughter of a woman nearly a goddess possibly want?" he asked.

"Well, when you put it that way..." Serena thought.

She sighed, unsure of how to answer.

"You make a fair point, Marquess," she said. "I have been denied no necessity and only in punishment denied pleasures."

"Indeed, your home is lovely," he said, looking out at the garden at last. "Living here must be paradise."

"It is, in it's own way," Serena said, though with a lack of enthusiasm.

"If you like never being allowed to leave," she added under her breath.

"It's a shame we don't see you outside the palace often. You'd love it over in the Jovian District. You should see it during New Cycle's Eave," he said.

"If only if only," she muttered, unaware she'd said that loudly enough for him to hear.

"Pardon?" he asked.

"Oh fudge pots!" she thought. "He heard!"

She smiled at him sheepishly.

"Like you said, I'm rarely allowed out," she said. "I wouldn't know anything about New Cycle's Eave in the Jovian District, personally. Only what I've seen in old videos."

"You sound most unhappy about it," he replied.

"After a fashion, I suppose. Living here isn't unagreeable," she said. "But..."

She trailed off, knowing that her plight had to sound childish to him.

"It seems a small price to pay for living here," he noted.

"So I've been told," she thought, unhappily.

"This place is enormous. You can't be lacking in elbow room," Duzumi said, looking around the enormous yard lying beyond even the garden, which by itself was about the size of a coliseum.

"It's not exactly the most exciting life," Serena replied. "I know every room, hall, and even the number of stone making up the walls. I know every inch of the surrounding yards, every tower, stairwell, nook, and cranny."

"Yes, but have you named the stones yet?" Duzumi asked sardonically.

"Ugh," Serena moaned, but allowing herself a laugh.

"Many days are repetitive in their nature. Wake up, do my morning lessons, sort the court with Mother or Father, some free time, lunch, more lessons, supper, and finally even more lessons before bed. I need something new."

That did sound like it would get old after a while, Duzumi had to admit, but at the same time he knew she was complaining about luxuries commoners would never know. As for Celine, she couldn't stop the slight sting of guilt at Serena's description of her life from hitting her in the chest.

"Nice, but a bit spoiled," Duzumi concluded.

"There can be no shortage of things to do here," he said instead of voicing that thought.

"It'd be nicer if I actually had a friend to share them with," she countered.

"A friend? You could have no shortage of companionship. I doubt you've ever been alone a day in your life."

"Only those my mother dictated for me. The best I have is Luna, and she's only here because she's my maid."

"Tis the life of a noble. Few can be trusted. It's our burden," he said.

"So I've been told repeatedly," she replied.

"It's the truth," he stated.

"Does it have to be?"

"Yes. Your have what other people want, and they will hang onto you for favors your friendship might bring," he said. "Many ranking lower than myself seek my favor because of the perks that come with being on my good side."

"That's not what I want out of a companion."

"Quite. Well, good luck finding something better given your rank. There are few who will look past you being the Princess," Duzumi said.

"Do you?" she asked.

"Do I what?"

"Do you look past me being royalty? Would you be here right now, _wanting to get to know me better_ , if I was a mere Baronetess?" Serena asked sincerely.

Duzumi leaned his head forward, smiling. Oh, she was good!

"I fear you have me dead to rights, Princess," he confessed.

She sighed, and leaned on the rail with her elbows before resting her chin in the palm of her hand. She stared wistfully out at the garden again.

"That's what I was afraid of. I don't want someone that's only interested in _what_ I am," she said, sadly.

"So what do you want, Princess?"

Serena pondered it a moment.

"...Freedom. The right to go where I please," she finally said. "And a friend who doesn't care about what I am, but _who_ I am."

Duzumi looked at her, amused. Celine, however, couldn't be amused at all. She peeked around the side of the column, staring at her sad younger cousin with her own sense of melancholy.

"You ask for much given what family you were born into," Duzumi said.

"I know."

"And where would you go with this newfound freedom?" he asked.

She looked right at the planet in the sky and had her answer.

"Earth."

"Earth?" he asked, deeply amused.

"Yes, Earth," Serena replied.

"Here we go..." Celine thought with a sense of resignation as she listened.

Duzumi let out a near derisive laugh.

"Of all the places to go? To _want_ to go to... Earth?" he asked incredulously.

"What's so wrong with that?" Serena asked, challengingly. She straightened up and stared him down resolutely. "Because the people there are supposedly 'dangerous savages'? I've heard it all before, and I'd still like to see it."

"Well, yes, there's that, and it's so behind us. It'd have none of the modern conveniences we have up here. They live in their own filth down there. They don't even know to wash their hands with hot soapy water!" he said.

"Have you actually ever been there?" Serena asked.

"No, but I've spoken to people who have, and its a fine mess planet-side. The Earthlings can have their messy blue planet. I wouldn't want it," Duzumi said, the disgust evident in his voice.

By now, Serena's patience was at an end.

"Everyone keeps saying that!" Serena said, becoming angry. "Why do you all hate them so much? What have the Earthlings ever done to us?!"

"Well, nothing, but..." Duzumi admitted.

"But nothing! You feel like you can judge them while you're safe at home because of our Silver Crystal and Celestial Warriors, which they have neither of!" Serena retorted. "How would _you_ like to struggle to live everyday and have someone else laugh at you for it because their world is better of?!"

"Now see here...!"

"Earth isn't worthless just because it's been slow to advance!" Serena interrupted him, her passion taking hold even more. "I pity them, Marquess, I really do. They have to live with a monster **we** unwittingly unleashed upon them! The Entity? That's OUR fault!"

" _Our_ fault?" Duzumi asked.

"Yes!" Serena replied. "My _Grandmother_ , Serenity the 3rd, is the one who sealed it inside its icy tomb in the Earth's frozen North. Then under OUR watch, it was able to influence those with dark hearts and then call them to it to. They overtook the prison we built for it! Our elite guard couldn't hold back it's forces and now they have a near impenetrable fortress down on the planet we were trying to protect! We're not so perfect, my dear Marquess! We couldn't even retake The Entity's prison while backed by the Silver Crystal!"

By now, Celine was beaming proudly at her cousin, silently giving an approving nod of her head.

"So you say," Duzumi replied. "Yes, most regrettable."

Though he didn't sound repentant at all.

"But honestly, they'd still have all kinds of problem even without The Entity," Duzumi said. "Staying focused on fighting The Dark Kingdom just keeps them from killing each other more than they already do. Ever heard of the Greek and Roman empires? The Entity had no part in starting either one's bloody wars of conquest. The Dark Kingdom just picked off stragglers that fell through the cracks, victims the Earthlings themselves created."

Serena groaned.

"Again with this? How many times do I need that point hammered into my head?" she wondered. "So what? War isn't exclusive to Earth. Last time I checked, Marquess, a war is exactly what destroyed the Cronia Galaxy our ancestors called home. A galaxy-wide war. Planet against planet, in a struggle that brought about their Armageddon."

"That was _different_!" Duzumi argued.

"How?! War is war!" Serena countered.

"Every war is different, and the exact reasons for The Great Galactic War have been forgotten," Duzumi insisted. "But it had to be over something more profound than seizing land! Our ancestors were civilized, as we are! More so than us, actually, because they had interplanetary relations and trade. Not primitives like down there! If we were anything like them, we'd have taken the Earth as our own from the moment we arrived. They possess nothing that could have stopped us. Instead, we settled on the nearby moon and have peacefully coexisted with them ever since," Duzumi insisted.

"We settled on the moon _because_ we couldn't breathe their atmosphere," Serena corrected him. "Even then, we were planning on evolving to breathe their air and then move everyone down there."

"But we were never going to take what did not belong to us. You see that big planet down there. We'd have found a place to call our own without uprooting or enslaving the natives. It's our natural way," Duzumi responded.

"And how can you know that?" Serena asked. "For all we know, our ancestors were just greedy warmongers only out for themselves. It's possible they even destroyed themselves. And if we had gone down there, we'd have been worshiped as gods because the Earthlings wouldn't know our technology from The Divine. We could have made willing slaves of them."

"Nonsense," Duzumi waved that off dismissively.

"My _mother_ doesn't think so," Serena answered.

Duzumi flinched at that.

"And even if it was true, the fact remains the Earth is a dangerous place," Duzumi deflected. "But that's why its such a curiosity for young people like yourself."

"You really think an interest in Earth is for children?" Serena asked, hiding her own growing annoyance.

Duzumi nodded.

"Verily," he answered. "The planet represents freedom from the dome's constraints. Oh, you should hear my younger brothers talk about being able to just go anywhere in a land without the dome, where the plant and animal life aren't regulated by any schedules apart from their own. Blues skies above during the day, seeing the stars only at night, and being treated to oranges, red, and purples when that side of the planet rotates out of the sun's shine."

Serena stopped and listened, wanting to hear all this.

"Oh, and the differing terrains, peoples, and customs you'll find if you go out far enough. It's all silly and romantic, really. I suppose it carries with it a certain charm, but let's be practical here, Princess. While they starve down there from famine, die of disease or in natural disasters, or kill each other in their holy wars, we're all perfectly safe and provided for up here, away from their nonsense."

Serena fixed her eye on him intently.

"There you go again, looking down on them when we've had the good life because our ancestors were blessed enough to be given The Silver Crystal by Queen Khrono in those final hours," Serena said, her own disgust evident. "If she hadn't given it to the first Serenity, our ancestors would have only had the Deep Space Arks and whatever supplies they had to survive on. Great Mother only knows what would have happened if they couldn't have refueled from it whenever they wanted or used it for protection."

"They'd have survived," Duzumi said. "Our ancestors were hardy. They'd have found a way."

"It'd have been a meager existence," Serena countered. "Not unlike many on Earth down there. I know this because Lares talked to me about it once."

"And they have less excuse. Their planet is brimming with natural resources," Duzumi replied. "Alas, too few of them are interested in bettering themselves or creating a better future. The strong would rather just focus on taking all the best things for themselves and hording it."

Serena looked at him, listening. Duzumi sighed. He hated talking about Earth, but this naïve little Princess had to be informed of how vile the place was.

"The Dark Kingdom isn't the only corrupt region down there, My Princess," Duzumi explained. "I said it before, many in power down there care little for their people, leaving them to do the best they can with what little is left over. If I had to make a guess, I'd say the number of benevolent rulers like Our Dear Queen are in a severe minority. One out of every hundred, I'd wager. There is nothing to long for down there. Honestly, I don't see what draws the eyes of young people such as yourself to that place, beyond it looking pretty in our sky."

Serena bit her lip.

Celine had nearly had her fill with his nonsense by now, and had already taken a silent step away from the column. She still hadn't been noticed, though.

"Honestly, instead of setting our eyes on Earth, we should be working on re-establishing contact with other evolved system," Duzumi said. "The ones we lost contact with thousands of years ago. We already receive occasional stray transmissions from them, so..."

"You mean the ones that rejected our ancestors?" Celine loudly asked.

Serena and Duzumi both spun around in alarm.

"Celine!" Serena cried and ran into her cousin's arms. "You're back!"

Celine returned the embrace, hugging Serena tightly.

"Yes, young one, I'm home," she replied, stroking Serena's hair.

"Duchess Neaera!" Duzumi said, coughing nervously. "How long were you there?"

"Honestly," Celine said, taking Serena by the shoulders to pulling her aside. "I've been watching my cousin since the beginning of the ball. I had a front row seat for all her dances and this 'tour' your requested."

"You were there?!" Serena whined, and pouted. "Meanie! How come you didn't show yourself! I wanted to hear all about Earth!"

"Yes, well, I needed to know how your suitors would act if they didn't know I was about," Celine replied, looking right at Duzumi.

"Suitors?" Serena asked, and then hung her head, sighing. "I knew it..."

"Wait. You weren't told what this ball was about?" Duzumi asked her, somewhat shocked.

Serena shook her head.

"Her mother thought it would be better if she just mingled without that hanging in the air," Celine replied.

"So you've known since before you left on the mission," Serena muttered.

"Yes," Celine replied, bowing her head slightly. "Forgive my silence. Don't be angry with the girls. I made the executive decision not to tell them, though I doubt the clues escaped their attention."

She then turned her attention back to Duzumi.

"Now where were we? Oh, yes," she said. "Weren't our ancestors back on planet Khrono primitive savages before Queen Khrono appeared and took them under her guidance?"

"That was different," Duzumi said. "Their Queen arose from their ranks and elevated them naturally..."

"Funny, the surviving historical texts our ancestors managed to save always said Queen Khrono just appeared one day when the planet was being invaded," Celine interrupted, stepping towards him. She stopped half a foot in front of the man. "She drove off the attackers, but the archived knowledge is too damaged for us to discern what happened between the attackers leaving and her officially being made Queen."

"Are you suggesting Queen Khrono was an... 'outsider'?" Duzumi asked, raising a brow. "That's just a theory only crackpots believe."

"I couldn't say, but it is odd that the old documents would word it in such a way as to imply she wasn't a Khrono native. There are no documents about where she came from originally, though that could just be because those didn't survive the long pilgrimage of our people. Aside from that, the surviving historical documents don't even begin calling the planet 'Khrono' until _after_ the Queen was crowned. Many of our scholars think the planet's renamed in her image."

"You forget that since she was the first Warrior of Khrono, they may not have had a name for the planet yet," Duzumi countered. "What is even your point, anyway?"

"Primitives. No technology. Multiple countries covering the surface of Khrono. Sickness, wars, death, natural disasters, territorial conflicts, and being powerless to stop invaders," Celine listed off several qualifying factors. By that point, she had nine fingers extended. "Sound familiar?"

"Humph!" Duzumi crossed his arms and turned away.

"Don't ignore the truth!" Celine ordered, and then turned away from him to Serena. "And I am very proud of you for recognizing it, yourself."

Serena beamed.

"Thank you!" she said exuberantly.

Celine patted her on the head once, a bittersweet expression on her face.

"My time on Earth has challenged several preconceived notions I had about them. Many not unlike Marquess Inanna's," she said.

"Oh, _my_ preconceived notions about them? Do enlighten me what you've encountered that's _so_ such a stunning revelation," Duzumi replied sarcastically.

"They're not unlike us at all..." Celine said quietly, before slowly facing him again. "After being there and reading through our own history with fresh eyes, I realize how alike our ancestors and the people of Earth really are. I can also see they're not just the savages so many up here take them for. Yes, there are many there who live down to our expectations of them, but in my short time there, I've encountered learned civilized men, women, and even children seeking to better their world. After walking among them with Myddin for a few weeks, I now see why he's fallen in love with the humans so much."

"You sound like you've been spending too much time with Mad Myddin," Duzumi stated.

"Actually, I think I have the opposite problem," Celine replied, flatly. "I've not spent _enough_ time with him. And we spend too much watching them from a distant without really understanding them."

Duzumi scoffed again, and crossed his arms.

"Even if what you both say is true, then that's even more reason to distrust them," he said.

"How do you figure that?" Celine demanded.

"Well," Duzumi started. "If the Princess's assertion is true that our ancestors in the Cronia Galaxy destroyed themselves, then the people were the root of the problem the whole time," Duzumi replied. "Yet we here on the Moon have always lived peacefully with the exception of defending our home on the rare occasion."

"We have the gift of hindsight and being far out from other inhabited systems," Celine replied. "We've not had to compete for power against anyone very often. Just the odd stray intruder such as The Entity and Nehellenia. It's easy to be kind when fortune smiles on you."

"True, but we could have taken the Earth anytime we wanted, yet have not," Duzumi pointed out. "And if _your_ assertion about Queen Khrono not being native to the world she ruled is true, then it was a mistake for her to elevate a primitive civilization before it's time."

"Very possibly true," Celine admitted.

The historical texts did confirm that Khrono had a vast wealth of knowledge that jumped the planet's education, technology, infrastructure, medicine, and just about everything else forward by several bounds. Under her rule, the planet developed in not even a fraction of the time it took most other planets to do so. Celine had thought that part strange on more than one occasion. Khrono went from being the most barbaric, savage planet to the most advanced under its Queen, which had to make it the envy of many. Celine had suspected that was one of the things which led to the Great Galactic War, as many Lunarians also did, but much of that information was gone.

"It wouldn't be much of a leap in logic to claim Queen Khrono's meddling played a heavy hand in leading to the Great Galactic War," Duzumi went on.

Celine nodded again.

"Are you saying that if the people of Earth were given an edge allowing them to challenge us, they'd... go to war with us?" Serena asked.

Duzumi's expression was grim.

"Indeed, Princess," he said. "The ones who do know of us would have to be beyond stupid not to know we possess something powerful up here. We go between our worlds like they travel between continents. 2 plus 2 is 4, and I imagine they're at least intelligent enough to figure that out. In time, they will collectively learn we exist and where to find us. They'll learn that we've idly stood by while they've suffered in the past. They will advance, and I do not foresee an olive branch. No, I anticipate a sword. I have never supported the mentality of patiently waiting for them to develop enough to come up and say hello. Give those people down there power, and they will come for us like jackals."

Then Duzumi's eyes lit up as if he had been hit with a revelation.

"Perhaps you were onto something comparing the ancestors to Earth," he mused.

Celine smirked and put her hands on her hips triumphantly. Duzumi humphed again and looked away.

"Still all the more reason not to trust Earthlings," he said. "We may have the gift to hindsight from mistakes our ancestors may or may not have made, but they won't. It's a wonder more of them haven't joined The Entity's cause."

"The Earthlings will only be our enemies if we make enemies _of them_ ," Celine replied.

"They give them far too much credit. If The Entity ever wises up and offers them power, they'll..."

"They are not a united people under a common Matriarch like other planets, Marquess," Celine cut in. "They have no Warrior and no Celestial lineage by which the Warrior Crystal is passed down. Nothing of the sort, which, if you'll recall, was another unintended wrong we did them."

"I know," Duzumi replied. "The first Serenity tried to Awaken their Warrior Crystal, but the process failed, and it nearly died. The core of their planet almost didn't survive."

Serena squirmed and looked down the ground as the two older persons spoke. She'd always known about Serenity I's botched attempt at Awakening the Warrior of Earth, but the term Celine used, 'another unintended wrong we did them', make her stop and think. Between robbing them of their Warrior and planting The Entity in their North Pole like a seed of evil, the Lunarians had made life down there significantly worse, a thousand fold.

"Just... what are we doing to them?" she wondered.

"And you must remember, Marquess, Earth is unlike more advanced planets," Celine continued. "They are splintered into their own cells, thousands, millions of separated territories across their sphere. No two regions or peoples are alike. Some may be seduced by the dark powers of The Entity, but others will not be so easily swayed."

"Can't be a large number," Duzumi countered. "And certainly not enough to stem the tide if The Entity entices the more weak minded and willed."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not, but we can go in circles about this all night, and I think my Princess has been put through enough for one evening," Celine said, putting a hand on Serena's shoulder. "Shall we bid you goodnight, Marquess Inanna?"

"By all means," Duzumi bowed. "Have a good evening, Princess, Duchess."

"Thank you," Serena said curtseying.

She and Celine turned to leave, but were stopped one last time by Duzumi's words.

"I do hope to see more of you after tonight, Princess Serena. Perhaps over at my manor sometime. I'm sure it can be arranged," he said.

Serena and Celine both turned to look at him.

"Have you... entered into negotiations with my parents?" Serena asked cautiously.

Duzumi just smiled in return.

"Why, yes. Naturally," he replied.

"I see," Serena replied. "Thank you again, for the walk around the palace and for the chat. It's been most enlightening."

"Indeed," Duzumi replied.

Serena swiftly turned and left, feeling both angry at her mother and afraid of the prospects of a marriage arrangement in her near future. Celine stayed in pace behind her. As they went, Duzumi watched them both go, and once they were gone, a smirk crossed his lips.

"Things just got interesting," he said.

* * *

"I hope Serena and Marquess Duzumi are getting along well, though I dread what will happen if she starts talking about Earth again."

"Mm," Chiron hummed, sipping his wine.

He stood silently as he listened to his wife speak. He wasn't as set on this whole arrangement thing as her, but he didn't argue. Serenity herself had been no older than Serena when her mother started bringing her potential suitors to pick from. If she thought Serena was ready to begin seeing men to spend the rest of her life with, he wasn't going to argue unless their daughter fell for a man with unsuitable character, like that Montague.

Chiron himself still remembered when his now wife began seeing suitors. He had never imagined he would get an invite to the palace, considering he was just a Baron back then. Well, not even that yet. Just the son of a Baron. In fact, he never did get that title, since his father was still alive. He imagined one of his other relatives would get the title of "Baron" since he was now just "Lord Chiron", second only to the Queen. Not that he really minded ranking up quite substantially.

"Oh, how I wish Serena would just focus on what's in front of her," Serenity fretted as she paced back and forth nervously.

"Dear, we're in public. No open show of vulnerability," he reminded her.

"Right," Serenity said, and stopped at once. She stood next to him, sighing. "Thank you. I guess I'm as nervous as you were when you first came to the castle."

Chiron smirked.

"How did you know that's what I was just thinking about?" he asked.

"We both are," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "How can we not think on our courtship given the circumstances?"

"Fair point," he replied, smiling at her.

"Now then..." Serenity started.

"Mother!" Serena's voice suddenly rang out from right behind them, making them both jump.

"Oof!" Chiron uttered, nearly spilling his drink.

"Serena," the Queen hissed, turning around. "Not so loud."

Behind them their daughter stood, looking most displeased with Celine not far behind.

"A word, please," Serena requested.

"Certainly," Serenity answered.

"In _private_ ," Serena added.

"She found out," Chiron thought, sipping his wine. "Well. Time to get this over with."

* * *

"Thank you for the dance," Kouros said.

"It was my pleasure, and thank you for being good or our Princess," Lares replied as they went down into a dip.

He smirked.

"You thank me for not being an obnoxious brute like the Earl?" he asked, chuckling.

"Verily," Lares answered, as he lead her through a turn. "How long you have practiced poetry, anyway?"

"Most of my life," he replied as they came back together, hand-in-hand. "I've loved reading all my life, but writing poetry as my preferred outlet for attempting to contributing to literature. Yourself?"

"I study history and the sciences, write papers on the topics, attend lectures on the subjects, and attend conventions for them," she answered.

"Practical," Kouros commented, smiling.

"Boring?" Lares asked.

"No, tell me more," he requested.

Lares smirked a little at that.

"Very well, but only if you recite that ballad you told me about earlier."

Kouros laughed again as they went down into another dip.

"You have an accord, Madame."

* * *

"Why would you not just tell me, mother?"

Serenity sighed, and looked at her husband. He just sat at the table in the small dining room adjacent to the ballroom they had retreated to. His elbow was on the surface as he rapped his fingers against the polished wood. Serenity wrapped herself in her arms as she worded her response mentally. She was starting at the back wall while Serena and Celine were just inside the closed doors.

"I wanted you to just enjoy the evening without a stigma on it. I thought we could find at least one suitor you would be partial to and go from there. Handle discussing an arrangement later," she replied.

"So yet another thing I'm not allowed to be privy to?" Serena asked, flatly.

"Don't take that tone with me," Serenity warned.

"Oh, excuse me! I'm sorry that I'm a little miffed at not only being a prisoner here, but I can't even be informed about my own marriage preparations? You didn't even talk to me about it beforehand!" Serena exclaimed.

"I told you she would find out, and she'd be upset when she did," Chiron said.

"Well..." Serenity trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"You have GOT to stop coddling me!" Serena said sharply, gesturing to herself with all five fingers pressed up against her chest. "I'm fifteen, I think I can handle the idea of having to find a future husband, but I won't rush into it!"

"Good," Chiron said.

Serenity glanced at Celine, who looked away, offering nothing this time around. So the Queen sighed, deciding to cave this time.

"You're right. You should have been informed, since this is such an important period of your life. I'll discuss bringing in every suitor to the palace with you before we invite them."

"Wouldn't it better if I went to visit them?" Serena asked.

Serenity raised a brow.

"Pardon?" she asked.

"Any man you invite to the palace will be on their best behavior to sell themselves as the most desirable husband to the future Queen," Serena explained. "If I visit their homes as just a social visit, I could see them, their families, their lives, everything. I'd get a much better idea of them."

They both knew it was just a plot to get out of the palace, but the argument was sound.

"Now hold on," Serenity said. "You know it's dangerous for you to leave."

"It's just as dangerous for me to stay!" Serena countered. "You've been told this countless times! Nehellenia walked right in past all our security! Heck, I might actually be safer outside if it happens again, because they'd be expecting me to be right here."

Serenity still looked uncertain.

"Please, mother," Serena pleaded, clasping her hands together to beg. "How can you expect me to wed or rule when I only know the inside of these walls? I have to take everyone's word for it when I'm sorting the court with you because I'm not allowed to go see what the problem is, myself. I barely know anyone who came to the ball tonight because they spend most of their out living at their own manors than coming here. I've never even seen how they celebrate New Cycle's Eve elsewhere in the kingdom up close. What kind of Queen would I be living all my live never knowing my own people on any level?"

Serenity and Chiron exchanged glances, knowing each and every word to be true. Chiron sipped his wine again before speaking.

"My Moonlight, I think its time," he said.

"Really?" Serenity asked.

"Mm-hm," he hummed, nodding.

Serenity sighed again and looked at her daughter.

"Does this mean I go outside?" Serena asked.

"On a few conditions," Serenity replied. "I think you can already guess them."

"Oh? Uh, I can't go into the city out _just_ to have fun?" Serena asked, already anticipating one of them.

Serenity nodded.

"I have to live up to my word about social visits to the prospective bachelors and take getting to really know them seriously," Serena continued to pressed.

Serenity nodded again.

"You know, it could take a while before I find a man of suitable character, right?" Serena asked.

"I know, but any suitor you choose will still have to be approved by your father and myself," Serenity replied.

"...Right," Serena said, sounding less than enthused about that part.

Celine decided it was time to speak up.

"Your mother is being exceedingly generous in letting you have a say in who you marry," she said.

Serena looked at her, but Celine only crossed her arms sternly.

"She could just choose Marquess Duzumi fon Inanna right now, and you'd have to marry him at the time and day she says," the Warrior explained. "Your Great Grandmother was not so lenient with her own daughter."

"U-understood," Serena said, and returned her gaze to the Queen.

"Thank you, mother."

Serenity and Chiron both smiled.

"Worry not, my dear," Serenity said. "It was that very strictness and ending up in a loveless marriage that led to my own mother allowing me to marry for love."

The Queen looked at her husband fondly.

"Tell her," she said.

"Oh, she already knows the story," Chiron replied, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "What's there to tell, really? A lowly Baron who thought he never had a chance with the Princess fell in love with her. So he decided to be satisfied with being a friend, thinking that's all he could ever be."

"Yes, but the Princess noticed his genuine affections," Serenity said. "And ignored every word of disapproval from the whole court."

Serenity turned to her daughter again.

"So you needn't worry, Serena. I intend to follow my own mother's example in this regard. Now, what else do you need to remember."

"And I actually have to be familiarizing myself with the needs of the people," Serena added.

"What else?" Serenity asked.

Serena looked around, trying to think of what she could possibly be missing. Alas, the answer eluded her.

"I'm stumped," she finally admitted.

"You never go out without an escort," Chiron said, standing up from the table. "Even in this peaceful kingdom, a lone, unprotected Princess would just be too good to pass up on for some hoodlums in need of money."

"Oh, right!" Serena replied. "Yes, father, I will always leave with at least _one_ of my Warriors at my s..."

"Two," Serenity cut in firmly.

Serena looked at her quizzically.

"Two?" she asked.

"At least two of your Guardian Warriors," Serenity confirmed. "For the first six months, anyway. They've not had to guard you out on open ground yet. They will need the practice before I will entrust you to just one of them."

Serena thought about for a moment, and then nodded. That sounded reasonable.

"Alright, two, for at least the first six months," Serena repeated.

"Then it's settled," Serenity said. "Serena? You have memorized the conditions of you leaving these grounds?"

"Yes, mother," Serena replied, refraining from jumping for joy and squealing like she was eight again. "I will uphold everything I've promised to do, and more."

"Good," Serenity said, and approached her.

Mother and daughter stood about a pace apart.

"I'm trusting you," Serenity said. "Now, let's go back out into the ball. Let's not keep our guests waiting."

"Yes, mother," Serena replied.

As she followed her parents and Celine back out into the ball, there were plans already in the making behind Serena's eyes.

"Free? I'm finally going to be free of this place sometimes," she thought joyously. "This will be my last and best chance of getting to Earth just once before I get anchored down to a fiancé. I doubt I'll be able to sneak off without help, though. I wonder if I can get Luna on board with the idea. Eh, maybe, but there is one, the best option to aid me in my objective."

Then her lips moved, forming a single, silent word: "Myddin."

 **Next : Chapter Four: Princess Serena: Freedom and Escape**


	7. Chapter 4: Freedom and Escape

**Celestial Warrior Moon:**

 **Memories of the Silver Millennium**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any _Sailor Moon_ related properties _._ _Sailor Moon_ is the property of Toei Animation and Naoko Takeuchi. This is a fan work created to celebrate the work. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Cover image by _SomeoftheFame_. Thank you so, so much, man.

 **Chapter Four**

 **Princess Serena:**

 **Freedom and Escape**

Morning, Delta 10th, 9989, Moon Kingdom reckoning. May 2nd, 991 A.D., Earth reckoning.

"Free at last."

Serena hummed happily, nearly skipping down the busy pavement of the streets.

"Do try not to draw attention to yourself. You're the one that wanted to go out incognito on your first trip out," Adrestia grumbled as she followed her Princess along.

"Heh!" Serena giggled in reply, glancing back at her Warriors sans Celine as they walked down the busy city street.

Instead of the standard royal hairstyle of the twin buns and pigtails, she had her hair in a long side braid and she wore a simple long green tunic, the length of a dress. It was tied at the waist with a sash and had a plunged neckline with no elaborate decorations. The Warriors were also in various attempts at middle class casual attire, but the only truly convincing one was Lita. She was wearing riveted blue cotton corduroy pants, which would many centuries later get an Earthling equivalent called jeans. This was paired with a green hooded sweatshirt and black flip-flops worn over bare feet. The others were dressed normally by only the lowest expectations of the upper class.

Now as for why Celine had to sit this particular excursion out, she had a lot of reporting to do about her recently ended mission. There were also some recruits for the palace guard that needed to be whipped into shape. Even miles away in the city streets, her subordinate Warriors pitied those poor men and women.

"You know, you didn't _all_ have to come with me? Mother only required two of you to accompany me for the first few months," Serena said over her shoulder.

"We _all_ needed to get out of that place," Lita muttered, looking upwards at a random skyscraper, noting how dangerously close to the underside of the dome it came. "Besides, we're not all sticking around the whole way. Just Adrestia and Harmonia. I'm only going as far as the business district on Main Street. After that, I'm taking the central Amtrak back to Jupiter District to visit home."

Harmonia opened her mouth, considering reminding her that Jupiter Manor was home now, but she stopped herself. The little apartment Lita and her mother grew up in would always be home to the Jovian. The Warrior in green had made that clear many times, so Harmonia just dropped it.

"I ordered a rare book from Sarawati Books," Lares added. "So I'll be departing at the business center as well."

Left unsaid was how that book could have been delivered straight to the palace. But they all knew it was an excuse for Lares to get outside the palace walls once a week, which had formerly been the envy of the Princess.

So while the Warriors made small talk behind her, Serena just took in every detail around her. The capitol of the Moon Kingdom was not unlike Tokyo, or New York, or any other major city to grow on Earth far into the future. Tall buildings that reached up 15-to-over-30 storeys high. The main differences is that the where Earth cities would later utilize concrete for their streets and buildings, this city had sculpted crystal sidewalk slabs and buildings (though the roads their vehicles drove on were cement), and oh how the reflective surfaces shimmered under the many lights. As for Serena, she was ecstatic to be out and about for the first time in years.

As they said they would, Lita and Lares left them for the central train station that would take them to their respective destinations while Adresia and Harmonia stuck by Serena. The train system was elevated, actually going over the busy streets. There were seven stations in all, located in each district of the Moon Kingdom (Moon District, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter Uranus, and Neptune). Saturn and Pluto didn't have districts, and the latter didn't have a noble family, for reasons that had always eluded Serena. As in, everyone always avoided telling her when asked, by any means necessary. _"When you're Queen,"_ was the answer she always got upon demanding to know why.

"So will you be going straight to Marquess Inanna's manorhouse or do you want to look around at the stores and vendors first?" Harmonia asked as they wandered around a bit.

Serena bit her lip. Do as she promised straight away, or to allow herself some goofing off time? Hm...

* * *

"So tell me about the beasts you faced on earth."

Celine sucked in a deep, apprehensive breath at the queen's request. The last few weeks of globe-trotting still weighed on her shoulders. She looked up at her queen and Chiron seated on their thrones as she stood below them at the base of the elevated platform. The red carpet she stood on was lined with armored guards standing at attention. She nodded once before beginning.

"Yes, My Queen," she replied. "There were four of them. Stone giants, to be precise. They were constructs created by Thurs, the Great Troll."

She could feel the cold settle into the room at the mention of one of The Dark Kingdom's Seven Great Youma. Serenity and Chiron exchanged uneasy stares at this news.

"Thurs," Chiron growled, as if the name was a curse.

"Yes, Thurs," Celine repeated. "He dug deeply into the Earth until he found its Mantle and enchanted four hunks of the hardest rock he could cultivate from it and set them loose on the surface. They were called The Spider, The Boar, The Worm, and The Bull. They emerged from the ground in four places through the world. The Boar appeared in Nepal, The Worm in Ghana, one of the Great Kingdoms of Africa, The Bull in Siberia, and The Spider in North Eretz."

Serenity and Chiron looked at her curiously, unsure if they'd heard her correctly. The first three made some sense. It was the fourth that gave them reason to pause.

"North... Eretz?" Chiron asked, completely baffled.

"Yes, Milord," Celine replied.

"But..." Chiron off, putting his finger to his chin in confusion. "How far North?"

"At the temperate level," Celine replied. "Far above the hot southern regions."

This just confused the Queen and her husband even more.

"What the devil could they want there?!" Chiron asked, beginning to raise his voice, but reined it in quickly. "It has no strategic value. The only thing in the temperate region of North Eretz is neverending wilderness and indigenous tribes. Down south is where the Aztec Empire is."

"And South Eretz has the Inca Empire," Serenity added. "I can only echo Dear Husband's sentiments. What could they have been after there?"

"I was unable to recover any official Intel, but I believe anonymity was their goal," Celine replied. "They rarely operate in any of those regions, so our eyes are rarely on them."

"Hmm..." Serenity hummed thoughtfully. "Left unchecked, the four giants could have become worshiped as gods in all four regions, uniting all those peoples under The Dark Kingdom's banner. They'd have been able to raise armies of followers for The Entity."

She looked over at her husband, who met her gaze keenly.

"Had they amassed all the individual tribes from North Eretz," Serenity explained. "They could have sacked the Aztecs and absorbed them into their numbers. Then just keep moving South and do the same to the Incas. Under the right leadership and with enough time, they'd have had a thousand ships to set sale Westward. Camelot would have never seen it coming. The rest of the world doesn't know those continents exist yet."

"Don't forget the other three," Chiron answered. "They could have closed in on all around Europe from those locations and covered the planet as the Greeks and Romans never could."

Lord and Queen both resisted the urge to shudder at the implications.

"And then we would have been next," Celine finished for them. "The whole of Earth coming to get us if we hadn't stepped in to stop it while it was still just the roots of a grand scheme."

Serenity and Celine's eyes met.

"Perhaps it is time to get more involved," Celine said.

"No," Serenity immediately replied on instinct, so quickly there was no pause between suggestion and answer.

Celine grunted in annoyance slightly, face going firm. She took a breath, knowing she could not let the matter sit.

"Your Majesty, The Dark Kingdom is growing wiser and bolder," she said.

"Duchess of Neaera, there is no argument to be made," Serenity said sternly. "You know the law."

"I beg you, Queen Serenity, at least let me finish," Celine said in a controlled voice.

Serenity closed her eyes and gave a slight nod, allowing her niece to go on. Celine swallowed, hoping against hope the Queen would see reason.

"Slaying the four giants nearly took me down with them, all four times. And Thurs can make more. He did it once. He can do it again. We need to at least hunt down and stamp out their Seven Great Youma. It would shatter their strongholds on the planet surface and allow us all to breathe easier. We need to start being more proactive before the enemy wises up even more. What if they get the idea to just start telling people that _we're_ the reason there's a Dark Kingdom at all? Most Earthlings that are already aware of our existence have little love for us as it is."

After Celine was finished, Serenity let out a long breath. A face of stone hid a mind in turmoil.

"I will take your words into consideration," Serenity answered stoically. "You are dismissed, as I believe you have other duties to attend."

"Yes, My Queen," Celine said, clicking the heels of her boots together as her stance went rigid to stand at attention.

She knew her words mattered to her aunt, and not to press the matter any further at the moment. Celine bowed, turned on heel, and marched out of the throne room, leaving the Matriarch and her husband behind.

"Leave us," Serenity told the guards as soon as Celine was gone.

The armored troops saluted in return and filed out of the throne room. Serenity then rose to her feet, looking on pensively.

"You're worried about inciting retaliation from The Dark Kingdom," Chiron said, jumping up from his throne.

Serenity's eyes lowered.

"...Yes," she replied. "Even if it's not against us, many could suffer the consequences for an assault such as the one Celine was suggesting. Things have settled into an unfortunate status quo, and I'm not entirely sure how to break it without visiting a blight upon Earth unlike any its ever known."

"We don't have to come to a conclusion today," Chiron said assuringly.

"Celine will want an answer."

"Indeed. She's taken to sounding a bit like Serena and Myddin since she got back, hasn't she?" Chiron asked.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Serenity mumbled.

"Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't," Chiron shrugged. "I will say there is a growing interest in the planet among this generation's youths, though. It might be time to increase our presence after all, as actively trying to suppress interest in something only ever leads to there being more for it."

Serenity stood silent and in thought for a long moment.

"...I'll contact Myddin and have him come up as soon as he can. We're going to need his expertise."

* * *

"...And this is my father."

Marquess Duzumi fon Inanna stood proudly looking up at the oversized portrait of his predecessor. It was just him and Serena standing at the end of a long hallway that was adorned with the portrait of every previous Marquess and Marchioness of the Inanna family. The hall was 12 feet from floor to ceiling in order to fit the many 3-by-6 ft. framed paintings. Serena wore a forced smile, having just endured an hour of meeting the painted faces of several generations of Duzumi's dead relatives. Harmonia and Adrestia had opted out the instant they knew what a tour of the Inanna manor entailed, but Serena was unfortunate enough to have no choice in the name of politeness.

Serena was brought out of her boredom-induced trance by Duzumi's chuckle.

"What is it?" she asked, somewhat annoyed.

"I can tell this hasn't been fun for you at all," he said. "Come. Maybe you'd like to see the observatory, instead. Looking skyward does seem to be an interest of yours'."

"Oh," she muttered, somewhat guiltily. "Forgive me. When we set out to look around, I didn't exactly have meeting all your past relatives in mind. I was honestly more interested in your library. Lares should have come, she'd have found her new haunt for my visits."

Duzumi smiled.

"So I understand there will be more?" he asked.

"Undoubtedly," Serena assured him with a smile. "Now, then, let's see about that observatory."

"Naturally. This way please," Duzumi offered.

* * *

"View the family portraits? The family portraits?!" Harmonia hissed at Adrestia as they both waited in the parlor. "How boring can you get?!"

"Uh-huh..." Adrestia absentedly muttered, not really paying attention as she conducted sword drills in the middle of the room.

The Inanna family butler looked on with despair as time and again, the raven head came dangerously close to knocking over some old and expensive decorative piece while the other Warrior just sat around filing her nails instead of stopping her companion.

"You know, if you get bored, there's a spot in the garden where we could spare," Adrestia said, slashing the sword here and there as if blocking enemy attacks.

"No, thank you," Harmonia said. "I joined you and the Princess to get _away_ from that for an afternoon. Don't throw me back into the fray."

Adrestia just shook her head in consternation at her fellow Warrior and stepped forward into a jab at an imaginary opponent.

* * *

"Ah, _Twilight on a Silent Hillside_ ," Lares thought as she flipped through the pages of her new book. "One of my favorite ballads."

"Sitting on a silent hillside,

Fog rolls in all around me,

And it creates..."

"Reading something interesting, Milady?"

Lares lowered the book just enough to see over the top. She was staring into the golden brown eyes of Kouros. His sandy blonde mane of hair was tied back in a ponytail. He leaned on the wall next to him as he regarded her.

"You're late," Lares said, pretending to be cross.

Kouros did his best to look wounded and put his hand over his heart.

"Perish the thought, Milady. Me, late? I thought I'd gotten here in a timely fashion," he said, coyly.

"I was in line to get Kleas' Short Story and Poetry Anthology for half an hour. It's twenty minutes past when you were supposed to meet with me here," she said, still maintaining the stern façade.

"Shall I treat you to the cinema this evening as penance?" he offered.

Finally, Lares allowed herself to smile.

"I think that'll be a good start."

* * *

"And there is Luminous, the farthest individual star known to the Moon Kingdom."

Duzumi stepped back from the telescope, allowing Serena to look through the eyepiece. And there it was, a shining beacon in the middle of a dark sea with little shimmers all around.

"It's so bright!" Serena exclaimed, genuinely fascinated. "Wow! Not even the palace observatory can look out this far."

"Really?" Duzumi asked, surprised.

Serena chuckled, realizing he was lacking a bit of context.

"We keep telling mother to update the equipment in there, but she loves the way the antique star-gazing lab looks."

"Well, there is something to be said for classic designs," Duzumi replied. "Older models _do_ tend to have more personality than their newer counterparts, which all just look interchangeable. So I can entirely understand your mother's reasoning."

"It's so far, too. Great Mother, I've never seen this deep into space. The coordinates say this is 5 billion light years from here. Wow," Serena again muttered.

"Indeed, it is. As far out as we can see presently," Duzumi replied.

"Wait... is that a... space ship?!" Serena exclaimed.

"Really?" Duzumi asked, suddenly very interested.

"Yes! Look!" Serena said, stepping to the side.

Duzumi went to the eyepiece and looked through. Sure enough, there was something moving across the star-ways, visible only because of the glowing tail it left behind it, perhaps the thrusters of some vessel or the tail of a comet. Duzumi turned a dial, zooming it in and refocusing as quickly as he could, and...

"By the Makers!" he muttered. "You were right."

It was shaped like a long tube, perfectly round in its exterior with the only windows visible from the far view being at the front. It was white, and adorned by a symbol Duzumi was unfamiliar with.

"Have a look," the Marquees said, steeping aside again.

Serena looked in again, and nearly squealed in delight.

"There it is!" she uttered. "An honest to goodness vessel, far away in space. We're not alone."

Duzumi chuckled.

"Well, I think we kind of knew that. I mean, we're certainly evidence of life from other planets," he said.

"Yeah, but we're also just about the only visitors the Sol System ever gets, except for..." She trailed off, deciding she didn't want to talk about The Dark Kingdom again.

"True," Duzumi admitted. "Though our probes and satellites do get stray pictures of far off spacecrafts in our deep-space photos every now and again. Then they're collected in the Mercurean Museum of Interstellar Artifacts. Put in the photo exhibit at the highest definition. They even have one particularly imposing shot of what has to be warship in transit."

"I know, Lares told me about it," Serena responded, raising her eye from the eyepiece. "I think I'll actually go there soon now that I can."

"My father had some copies of photos displayed there made and hung up in the East Wing," Duzumi offered.

Serena took one more look at the space vessel before it vanished, and then turned to her host.

"I'd love to," she said.

"Then follow me," Duzumi answered, offering his arm.

She took it and they left the observatory together. However, once out in the hall, they hadn't gone three steps before they were interrupted by Serena's cell phone going off in her pocket.

* * *

"Alright, I suppose a little practice wouldn't hurt..." Harmonia said, giving in.

She tossed her own wooden practice sword from hand to hand a few times. Then she tossed it upwards, making it spin in a complete 180 before catching it again. Adrestia smiled and got into her battle stance. Both Warriors charged, but were interrupted before anything that'd cost the royal family money could happen. The cause was Serena suddenly bursting existedly in.

"LADIES!" Serena screamed happily from the door, scaring everyone.

Harmonia cried out in surprise and tripped over her own feet. She crashed right into Adrestia, nearly bearing them both to the ground. And they would have fell right into that expensive vase had Adrestia not been able to steady them both. Though, that did not stop the butler from lunging forward and cupping his hands under the vase to catch it. Now everyone just stood in the middle of the room in awkward positions. They all stared at the Princess both flushing from embarrassment and giving her the stink eye in annoyance.

"Heh heh, sorry!" Serena giggled, twirling a pigtail around one finger.

Duzumi came rushing up behind Serena, looking confused and annoyed at her sudden departure.

"Princess!" he cried. "What on the moon...?"

"We've just been called back to the palace!" Serena exclaimed to everyone.

Harmonia and Adrestia just stared at her. Their princess was excited about being called back to the place she'd just spent most of her life trying to flee.

"Alright, who are you and what have you done to our Serena?" Harmonia demanded, only half joking.

"Very funny," Serena said, rolling her eyes. "Myddin's just been called back to the moon on official business. He'll be there this afternoon."

After a moment, everyone went:

"...Oh."

* * *

"Well, mom, I'm home," Lita muttered.

She stared sadly up at the building where they had lived in up until the day she passed away. It was now condemned and a week away from being demolished. Not even her position as the official heir to the Seat of Jupiter could save the building, because it was old and beyond repair. The only thing to do in the name of safety was tear the place down and build something new over the site. Her aunt, Lady Jupiter, however, had made sure a new building providing affordable living for the lower classes would be what went up. Lita didn't know if she did that just to pacify her heir, or if she was actually interested in helping the neighborhood, but didn't ask about it.

Lita shoved her hands into her pockets, looking up at the building and absently kicked a rock away. After one more forlorn look at the building, she was walking. She'd seen what she wanted. Seen the old bakery, which was getting a huge boost in business, because the word had gotten out that one of its ex-employees was now a Celestial Warrior. However, there wasn't much other reason to stick around now. Time had passed, and most of her friends had moved away and started families.

"Why did I even bother coming back here?" she wondered bitterly. "To remind myself that my old life is over? Seriously, I'm like an old man walking the neighborhood he grew up in to relive old, faded memories. I should have gone to Sarawati Books with Lares."

* * *

"What would it take to just kill the damn thing?"

Serenity regarded her niece in the corner of her eye in response to that question, a bit perturbed at Celine breaking ceremony. Normally, the Queen would introduce herself, and then everyone else, one at a time, and explain their stake in the meeting before it began. Today, though, Celine had just walked up to the table and hit them with the question, first thing.

Either not noticing her aunt's stare or just choosing to ignore it, Celine stared the rest of the table down. Serenity sat at the head with Chiron just to her right. Serena was one seat down from him, then Adrestia and Harmonia respectively. On the queen's left was Celine, then Myddin, General Rusila, and finally Elias fon Nikos, their Chief Administrator of their secret activities planetside. Nikos' hair was black as midnight, and his gray eyes were like looking into mist. His pale, sharp, angular features reminded many of Earthling pack animals, like the wolf. Speaking of the planetside administrator, he seemed very annoyed at having introductions cut off.

"Way to make this awkward, Cousin," Serena thought.

The Princess's eyes traveled around the persons present, too. Eventually, Serena's gaze landed on Myddin. She had taken notice of what the old man had shown up carrying and seemed quite enthusiastic about. Well, actually, that might be understating his general attitude a bit. Myddin had shown up with a small wooden box he laid out on the table. He had been tapping is palms on it in excitement like a child eager to show their parents a school project they had just gotten good marks for. The tapping and zeal had both ceased with Celine's sudden question.

"...That would be exceedingly difficult," Elias fon Nikos said, shrugging and turning his palms up. "Assuming we could even get deep enough into The Entity's lair to attack it directly, Duchess."

Celine snorted, and leaned forward crossing her arms.

"Well, all discussion of slaying it's underlings always leads to the same conclusion: they are replaceable," Celine said. "Kill it's current emissary, It will find another. Kill it's seven children, It will break off more bits of its own flesh to animate."

Celine's retort was stern, each word striking like a slap to the face.

"The answer is clear," she continued. "The only way to end this constant struggle with The Dark Kingdom be to kill the beast."

"Tell us something we don't know," Chiron thought unhappily.

"Slaying The Entity will be a long, tangled, and thorny path, dear Celine," Chiron then spoke up. "We would require a plan of many steps and phases, perhaps even playing the long game to accomplish it."

"Then the sooner we get started, the better," Celine said.

"If only it was so simple," Elias spoke up again. "My Earth-side agents work tirelessly to untangle the web of the enemy. We will still need more Intel before we can begin a long-term operation to rid the planet of this poison."

"Our best bet is the Silver Crystal," Serena pointed out. "But my grandmother couldn't even kill It using that. So what else _can_ we do?"

"You may be getting ahead of the game a bit, Serena," Adrestia plainly. "We have to _get_ to The Entity, first, before we can do a thing about it. Weeding out the enemy strongholds around the planet should be the first order of business."

"Lady Adrestia is right," Serenity admitted, with a dark twinge in her voice. "And, so is Serena. Even if we could take the fight right to The Dark Kingdom, it would be unwise with their agents inhabiting every corner of the globe. They'd have to be weeded out and destroyed, one and all, first. Only then would such an attempt be feasible without bringing hell down on the heads of humanity as a consequence. A strong remainder of The Dark Kingdom would form either several splinter groups or join into a second united... Neo-Dark Kingdom, if you would."

"With respects, My Queen," Harmonia piped up. "Without their true leader, this Neo-Dark Kingdom wouldn't even be half the threat."

"They don't have to be even half as dangerous to unleash Hell," Adrestia murmured.

"It would still leave a mess not quickly disposed of," Chiron also answered. "They'd be dangerous enough to do untold damage, and that's assuming The Entity cannot, in some form, live on through one of its followers."

"Can it do that?" Serena asked.

Her question was met with a silence at the table.

"Who can say?" Myddin replied, speaking for the first time. "We know so little of the beast, we don't even have a full page's worth of sound information. Where did it come from? Is its errand its own? Is it the only one of its kind? Would another come to take its place if it was slain? Would killing the beast even truly kill it? Its not unheard of for monsters and demons to prepare to way to return from The Hereafter before facing a deadly foe. There is so much unanswered, so much we were unable to discover before its prison was taken and converted into its domain."

"But..." Serena thought. "If we just keep fighting The Entity's minions, It'll gather or create more and keep sending them out to replace lost forces. If we take the fight right to them, there'd be no one left to keep the movements of their agents in the field strictly business. It's like a neverending war we can't win."

"So..." Serena started to ask.

All eyes were on her, and she swallowed nervously. She'd lost her words.

"Yes, my dear?" Serenity asked, encouragingly.

"What would it take to tip the scale in our favor if we took the path of direct war?" Serena asked.

"A new element that's not been considered before," Myddin said. Then he turned to Serena. "And before, when you spoke of Serenity III sealing the beast, you' were only partially correct, my dear."

Serena raised a brow, wondering where he was going with this.

"It was only Serenity III, herself, that was unable to slay the beast," Myddin continued. "The Silver Crystal itself is more than powerful enough to do, well, anything. It is truly unlimited, but the same cannot be said for those who had wielded it through the centuries. Any single user can only muster so much of its power before they risk losing control or killing themselves. The Entity still lives because of the limitations of mortal flesh. Perhaps what is needed is just an additional... push."

"A way to amplify how much of the Crystal's power Her Majesty can wield?" Adrestia asked, with interest. She leaned forward, wanting to know more. "How?"

"It would be nearly impossible," Serenity relied. "The hearts and minds of two people wielding the Silver Crystal would have to be in perfect tandem to make such a feat to work. Any disharmony between shared users could be disastrous."

"Why?" Serena asked.

"Unlimited power driven by a pair of minds and hearts in disharmony with one another would be result in the energy they wielded becoming unfocused and sloppily guided," Serenity replied. "And the crystal is just too dangerous for a misfire of its power to be risked. That's why we've only ever had one user at a time. One who religiously trains with it for expert control."

"...Oh," Serena uttered, a bit disappointed at the low chance of success this suggestion had.

"Could someone sneak in?" Harmonia asked. "As in, the ground force on the surface is a distraction, while a small band protecting the Queen slips in. Even if they've expanded on the place by adding additional tunnels, the chamber where The Entity was kept should still be right where it always was. Even if we can't kill it, we could wear it out and send it back into hibernation, right? The creature's need to sleep for long periods every century or so could perhaps be used against it."

"There's no telling how they altered the facility or if the original route to the chamber of the sealed beast is even still intact," Adrestia replied.

"The Dark Kingdom will also have people who would think of your exact suggestion," Chiron added. "They will have long since taken steps to ensure the original floor plan has been rendered obsolete."

Harmonia scrunched her lips to the side as she processed this information and tried to think of another way to make sneaking in work. Meanwhile, Myddin glanced down at the little wooden box he'd brought, and pondered what to do. He considered opening and showing its contents to the Queen right then, but then thought better of it, deciding he needed to lead into that topic.

"Perhaps The Silver Crystal need only to cooperate with another power with a will behind it set to the same task," Myddin suggested. "Its certainly an alternative to consider."

"Alright," the Queen, nodding once. "Explain."

"Make an alliance with Camelot," Myddin said. "I firmly believe their Golden Blade would be an asset to the cause."

"Would The Golden Blade actually be sufficient enough to help?" Serenity asked.

"Well," Myddin shrugged, cocking his head to the side. "It's power has not yet been measured in actual numbers, but we do have a general idea of its extents. It alone has been what's leveled the playing field against every assault on England by The Dark Kingdom. They fear that weapon, for whatever reason. So yes, I believe The Golden Blade could be a valuable asset to our cause."

"Is there a way to guarantee it can supply the final push to play the beast?" Chiron asked.

"Well..." Myddin replied, clicking his tongue one. "No. Not a complete guarantee."

"We also need to consider our reputation on Earth," Administrator Elias said, rising to his feet. "We're not known to many Earthlings, and those who have discerned our existence generally regard us as outsiders and interlopers. Any attempts to approach them would be met with suspicion."

"Nikos is right, unfortunately," Chiron muttered regretfully. "Our approach would have to be... calculated."

"And if first impressions go poorly," Elias added. "The results could be disastrous. It wouldn't be the first time our ways have been seen as witchcraft."

"They've also mistaken us for gods before," Serena said.

"That would be deceitful," Chiron replied sternly.

Serena shrunk under the unhappy stare of her father.

"It was just a thought," she mumbled.

"Besides, the truth would inevitably come out," Rusila said.

"Those superstitious fools have sent many an innocent to be burned at the stake," Elias said disdainfully. "Even on Myddin's watch."

Myddin hung his head, in shame.

"The most tragic part of all of living among them," Myddin admitted.

"It's honestly a wonder you've survived so long around them," Elias remarked.

"That is true," Myddin confessed. "Regrettably. But many of them show promise. The Pendragons of Camelot and their knights of the Round Table are such people. They have survived for generations despite having the eye of The Dark Kingdom directly on them. They've shown their mettle."

"Maybe we should help them," Serena spoke up, trying to hide her feeling of insecurity as all eyes went to her. "Queen Khrono was probably an alien who helped the ancient Khronoans and elevated them."

Celine nearly let a half-grin cross her face, watching her cousin repeat her argument to Marquess Duzumi from the night before. The light in Myddin's eyes also started to return. He was hopeful he might be able to get to his point, after all.

"Maybe we can do the same for them," Serena finished.

"You forget, my dear," Serenity said. "That it was probably Khrono's interference that ultimately led them to disaster."

"I know, mother. Cousin Celine and the Marquess Inanna just argued about this very thing last night," Serena said. "But what if we're careful about it?"

"Precisely!" Myddin said happily. "And unlike Queen Khrono, instead of building them to the point of leaping them forward several technological generations, we can maintain our approach of simply guiding them to breakthroughs and letting _their_ geniuses make them. Perhaps keeping to the shadows a bit less."

"In the meantime, we can help safeguard them from harm," Serena put in.

"We can't coddle them, Serena," Chiron said.

"So we should sit idly by while our neighbor suffers at the hand of a prisoner we couldn't contain?" Celine demanded.

"We're doing what we can," Chiron countered. "Direct interference..."

"May be the only recourse! Myddin's suggestion sounds good and all, but _they. Are. Suffering!_ " Celine cut in, slamming her hands on the table.

"Then what!?" Chiron demanded right back, shooting up from his seat. "Create a race of pets? A lazy planet surviving on the good will of its neighbor? I understand their circumstances aren't as nature intended, but where do we draw the line between when we help them or don't?"

"Like any other planet, they are expected to survive on their own when push comes to shove," Elias said.

"They don't have their Warrior, Administrator!" Celine replied. "And we just finished directly interfering by slaying four giants for them! You don't seem to mind arbitrarily altering how we intervene on their behalf!"

Elias' mouth fell open, appalled at the accusation. Myddin raised his hands to try to defuse the argument, but the Queen beat him to it.

"Celine!" Serenity said through gritted teeth. "You are not helping this meeting stay in order."

Celine complied with her aunt's wishes, and backed off. Serenity turned to Elias.

"You, too, Administrator," she said.

Elias sat back down, and there was order again. Chiron chose this time to speak again.

"The situation with the four giants was a set of extreme and rare circumstances," he asserted. "We only ever send down combative agents to act directly when absolutely necessary. We _had_ to slay those giants. There was no other recourse. There was nothing arbitrary about the decision to carry out the operation."

"If I may..." Myddin tried to say.

"But other than that, they're on their own from a military standpoint?" Celine asked sharply, having not heard the wizard.

"We can't win every battle for them," Chiron replied, evenly.

Serena noted a slight hint of sadness in her father's eyes.

"It would be dangerous for _them_ if we took up sole responsibility for their welfare," Chiron said. "Self-sufficiency is key to the survival of any race, civilization, or whatnot. Allies are nice and all, but at the end of the day, we are all responsible for our own survival. We help them because it is right, but we cannot coddle them, Celine. If The Entity is ever slain, they will still need to be able to handle their own affairs."

"I understand," Celine replied, accepting this answer.

"We simply must alter how we help them as The Enemy changes tactics," Chiron finished. "Which is what this meeting is about."

Myddin grunted and then cleared his throat loudly to try getting their attentions to no avail.

"Which seems quite often," Celine said. "So what happens when something slips through the cracks because of our self-imposed distance? What happens if... when, they try this again elsewhere, and we don't quite notice in time? Then they have an army they didn't before."

Chiron turned to Elias.

"Administrator?" The Lord asked. "What would be take to re-configure our reconnaissance of the planet into more expansive units?"

Elias shook his head and shrugged.

"I can't answer that right now. I'd have to call for an immediate and complete update of... everything, to compile the information necessary to answer that. I'll have to take stock of all our headquarters on the planet surface and the reach of observation and intervention each one is presently capable of. That is to say nothing of operations that are currently ongoing, which agents can be reached, and the constantly fluctuating manpower each HQ has."

"Then I believe you have your latest assignment, Administrator," Serenity replied. "A complete readout of our planetside operations is requested, so says your Queen."

Elias bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"It will be done, Your Majesty, but understand it will not be a quick task," he said.

"I understand fully," Serenity replied. "Keep us updated on your work and bring it to us in a timely fashion. It is indeed time to begin tightening our Recon on Earth, and improving the efficiency of our operations."

"It will be done," Elias repeated with another bow.

"On a similar note," Serenity then said, and turned to Rusila. "General Rusila."

"My Queen," the redhead answered respectfully.

"I would like you to do the same for our military," Serenity explained. "And we shall begin to make arrangements to intergrade military and Earth-side Recon operations."

"We're preparing for war, Your Majesty?" Adrestia asked.

"We are preparing the first timid steps of tightening the noose around the Dark Kingdom's activities," the Queen replied.

Then she turned to Celine.

"But we will cautious going forward," she said to the Duchess. "You are correct, dearest niece. Something needs to change, but we will not make our decisions rashly or in haste."

And finally, she turned to Myddin, who sighing out of relief, happy that things were finally heading where they needed to.

"Archmage Myddin, I will have words with you in private in my study," she said. "Now then, you all either have your assignments or other duties to return to."

Then the Queen raised her staff and brought it down hard against the floor. The sound echoed off the walls, sounding off the end of the meeting. Serenity was the first to rise, as was customary. Her face was stoic. Myddin still looked relieved. He may yet have his chance, but he knew to wait for the Queen to say her piece.

"I called this meeting to break new ground in our ongoing fight against The Entity," Serenity said. "I am satisfied to see that happen, even if it is not as much new ground as some would have liked. Preparations will begin at once to revise and strengthen our watch on Earth and increase the efficiency of our intervention. As soon as our operations are in place and stable, we will begin the long task of weeding out the enemy from Earth's corners. And someday we may even be able to knock on their front door to take the war to them. Meeting is adjourned, for now, but know there will be many more councils in the near future."

With that, she stood and turned to leave, following quickly by Chiron. She stopped, turning her attention to Myddin, eyes trialing down to the box he'd been eager to talk about.

"Come, my old friend," the Queen bid the wizard. "Walk with us and show us what you have brought with you."

The wizard smiled, got up, and followed after them. Everyone watched the rulers and their court wizard begin conversing privately as they vanished from view.

"Well, then," Celine said, rising to her feet.

She looked around at the remaining people at the table.

"You have your orders. Return to your duties," she said.

Rusila and Elias stood, saluted, and followed the Duchess out, leaving Serena and the two Warriors.

"What shall we do next, Princess?" Harmonia asked, turning her attention to her charge.

Serena stared after her parents and Myddin.

"Actually, I think I'm going to find out what Master Myddin's showing them. You two can take the rest of the afternoon off," Serena replied.

She practically leapt from her chair, much to the consternation of Adrestia. The Princess hiked up her skirt and ran through the door to catch up with them. Then Adrestia and Harmona turned to each other, and shrugged.

* * *

When Serena caught up with them, her parents and Myddin were in her mother's study. Serenity was seated at her desk's chair with Myddin across form her. Chiron sat off to the side, between them. Myddin had flipped open his box. All eyes were intently on the thing contained within. Curbing her curiosity, Serena remained out of sight to gauge the atmosphere to decide when the best time to jump in would be. Since her mother's study was at the end of a corridor of many doors, it was easy to not to be seen. She kept along one side of the hall and then stood just out of sight and listened. Myddin picked the object up from its container, revealing what looked like an unholy joining of a wristwatch and a miniature computer.

"I have just pushed us forward several years in transporter technology!" he announced gleefully. "With this wrist-transporter, we can send someone anywhere at a moment's notice instead of always having to rely on the transporter stations both here in our kingdom and on the planet surface."

The Queen looked at him with interest. Meanwhile, Serena eyed the wrist-transporter like a starving dog that'd just been offered a drumstick.

"Go on," Serenity prompted.

"Well, it's just as I said," Myddin explained, shrugging. "Set the coordinates and you can go anywhere immediately. Well... you can as soon as I've perfected it."

"It's untested?" Chiron asked.

"No, no, it's tested, and it works fine," Myddin replied. "I used myself as the test subject, and I'm able to go to and fro between two locations just fine, with no _major_ physical alterations or disfigurements."

"Myddin, that was beyond reckless," Serenity stated, somewhat in shock.

"No _major_ physical harm?" Chiron asked.

"Well, it _did_ give me a nasty rash and sporadic blindness for about a week after the first test run..." Myddin mumbled.

"Oh it that _all_?" Chiron blanched.

"Then what else is it lacking?" Serenity asked.

"Well, I'm dabbling in new technology here. I have to develop a full mapping program that can function without our transporter stations," Myddin explained. "It also has to be able to calculate quantum physics and be able to detect both geometry and geography in order to teleport you safely onto solid ground."

"Instead of into a wall or over a sheer drop? Or underwater?" Chiron asked.

"Precisely," Myddin said.

Serena wondered if it would really be that hard to perfect the software necessary to pull it off. She knew the transporter stations functioned as entry/exit points because they were specially made facilities for receiving and sending objects both living and inanimate. She had seen the send/receive tubes before, and had witnessed Lunarian agents teleport planetside and re-materialize into the palace station before. The technology had been around since before the cataclysm which destroyed the Cronia Galaxy, but they'd never been able to improve on it. Until now, apparently.

"The transporter stations have but one drawback," Myddin said. "They're set in place. You'll only ever go back and forth between one station or another, arriving in the general vicinity of where you need to go. But you'll still need to travel Great Mother knows how far to your destination. I hope to be able to transport someone straight to where they're needed with a tap of a few buttons on their wrist-worn device."

"So you don't actually have all of this developed?" Serenity asked.

"Well, no, I mean. I've developed an exceedingly crude version of the final design." Myddin said. "I can transport myself from this room back to England, and back. Well, actually, I'd re-materialize in the courtyard outside upon return, but you get the gist."

"I see," Serenity replied, and went deep into thought.

Everyone waited for her to respond.

"The device has merit, Myddin," she said at last. "It may be the answer to our prayers if we could transport ourselves straight into the containment chamber of The Entity."

"We still have to discover to method to kill it first, darling," Chiron swiftly reminded her.

Serenity hummed and nodded her head once in response to that.

"But it sounds exceedingly dangerous to test, though," she muttered.

"Well, naturally," Myddin said. "It's nowhere near ready, but I think this will solve a lot of the problems brought up by Lord Chiron, Duchess Celine, and Administrator Nikos today."

"Indeed, it may," Serenity said. "Very well, you have my permission to continue work on the device, provided it doesn't interfere with your work planetside. Are you certain you won't let us take it and work on it here?"

"Forgive me, Your Majesties, but I would rather keep the number of people who are aware of this device to a minimum until I can also develop safeguards to prevent abuse of its power," Myddin replied, and then added: "And I will not allow this project to interfere with my other work. You have my word as a descendent of Ayao."

"Very well, I accept your terms and your vow," Serenity said. "Now, understand, until the device to safe to use, I cannot endorse it."

"I completely understand and respect your wishes," Myddin replied.

Serenity smiled at him, and reached across her desk to lay her hand on one of his.

"We are truly blessed to have you with us," she said. "And I have one final question.

"Yes, My Queen," Myddin replied.

"How many can be constructed?" she asked.

"Well..." Myddin uttered, turning the wrist-transporter over in his hands. "It's hardly going to be a mass produced device. Some of the materials required to make this are rare, quite rare."

"That is something I'm fine with," Serenity replied. "I don't intend to make mass amounts of a device with such abusable potential. If the enemy got their hands on it, the results would be disastrous."

"I quite agreed," Myddin said with a smile.

"Good. There will only be a few developed. They will be granted _only_ to the very best and most reliable agents at our disposal," Serenity stated firmly. "And I will hold you to your promise that they can be shut down or locked from anywhere if the current user proves dishonest."

"I am all for that decision," Myddin said.

"I'm glad you understand," Serenity said.

With that, she rose from her chair.

"Now then, I hate to cut this short, dear Myddin, but I have some affairs of State to attend to. I can't put them off any longer than I have," she said.

"Well, technically, you could. You _are_ the Queen," Chiron chided, grinning.

"I could, but won't," Serenity answered.

Myddin and Chiron also stood. The old wizard bowed before them.

"May the day treat you well," Myddin said in farewell.

"May the day shine bright for you," Serenity gave the customary reply to that phrase.

With that, she and Chiron turned to leave, making no motion to force Myddin from the room with them. Serena ducked into one of the dark rooms before they emerged into the hall. They passed without noticing her, much to her relief. As soon as her parents' footfalls had faded, she came out of her hiding spot and looked into her mother's study at Myddin.

The wizard sat crooked in his chair for a moment, one arm draped up over the back, looking thoughtful. He scratched his chin as he stared down his wrist-transporter and sighed. Then he started muttering to himself.

"No, that's useless, won't do..." was all Serena made out of his mumbles.

He then promptly stood, tossing the device back into its case. He closed the lid and fastened it before picking it up. He turned towards the doorway, but stopped dead upon seeing the Princess staring timidly in at him.

"Uh, hello," she managed to utter. "Sorry to eavesdrop, but I found all this talk of the mini-transporter to be very interesting."

Myddin formed a crooked smile and chuckled at this.

"Oh, is that _really_ all, Princess?" he asked wryly.

He slowly approached her, still chuckling to himself.

"You wanted something?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, I did, Master Myddin!" Serena said enthusiastic. "But, ah..."

Serena started to talk, but stopped and looked around. She didn't want anyone to overhear this. Then she returned her gaze to him and leaned in close.

"Um, can we talk somewhere private?" she asked.

* * *

"And here we are. My office. I know the west wing is a little drafty as opposed to the rest of the palace, but it suits me just fine. As private as it can get from prying eyes and ears. Now, then, my dear Princess Serena. How can I be of service?"

Myddin sat on the edge of his often unused desk, hands in his lap, and an expectant look on his face. Serena cleared her throat and sat down in one of the guest chairs, fidgeting uncomfortably. Now how was she going to say this?

"I..." she stammered, and was just met with his continued friendly stare. "I... I... Want to go to Earth."

"Oh," Myddin asked light-hearted, and chuckled. "Do you?"

Serena did not know what to make of this response.

"You'll have to forgive me, sir, but this is normally the part where people start shouting at me about how dangerous the planet is," she said.

Myddin threw his head back and laughed. Serena puffed out her cheeks indignantly and crossed her arms.

"And _what_ , may I ask, is so funny?"

"Oh, ho-ho-ho!" Myddin jovially cried and began pacing around his office a bit, muttering and chuckling to himself. "Interesting! Quite interesting!"

Then he stopped to stand before her.

"Well, my dear, my understanding is that you've had this talk quite often with your Guardians and relatives, so I won't bother bending your ear about it when you've heard so often before."

"Thank you," she said graciously.

"But, tell me dear," Myddin said. "Why?"

Serena had to sit and think about that. What would she tell him? That she wanted to just see something different from the inside of the palace? Even more different than the kingdom outside its walls? To go on an adventure? To feel a real breeze on her face and actually experience the warmth of the sun directly on her skin? She looked up at him, hanging her mouth open a bit as her words were found.

"I agree with you and Celine," she finally said.

Myddin raised a brow.

"She and I agree on only a few things. So, you must be referring to our shared interest in building a bridge between the moon and Earth," he said.

"Yes," she nodded. "But I'm not going to lie. I want to experience its beauty for myself instead of always hearing about secondhand, but..."

She paused and ranher tongue over her teeth as she considered her own motives.

"My mother, and her mother before her, and her mother before her... and so on, have all managed the Moon Kingdom's watch over the Earth with a similar philosophy: stay in the shadows and only, _only_ ever directly interfere at the upmost end of need," she said, and looked him in the eyes. "Of course, that worked just fine before The Entity came along. Its arrival completely changed _how_ we observed the planet, going from simply aiding promising humans to a full-on Recon operation to stay ahead of an enemy that wants us all dead. And mother's right, too. Things need to change, but more than perhaps she wants."

"Go on," Myddin urged.

"I think we're actually late to making contact with them. It's something we should've done ages ago," Serena said. "To form an alliance with a learned society that can see past the superstitions, myths, and legends, and just see us for... us. There are so many peoples there, surely one exists."

Myddin uttered an "Mm" while nodding his head.

"That would be difficult. So many are exceedingly superstitious down there, even within the more learned societies. We would have to pick our allies carefully," he said.

"But they _do_ exist, yes?"

"Of course they do. I've lived with a good many of them."

"In that case, it is possible to build a bridge between their world and ours'. I think in order for both our civilizations to flourish, we can't be eternally apart."

"Flourish? The moon is in a golden age. The Silver Millennium," Myddin pointed out.

"Flourishing, but stagnant," Serena said. "Everyone's so set in their ways in a prison of tradition! It's ridiculous! It'd do the Moon Kingdom a bit of good to get some exposure to Earth and learn what it's like to be..."

Then Serena realized she was rambled and quietly finished.

"...What it's like to be them. Forgive me, I forgot myself."

Myddin instead smiled.

"Go on," he again urged.

She looked at him resolutely.

"I need to see the world. Not just our little kingdom, but our neighbor, the only natural creation around here. And I'm not going to lie, I am tired of the controlled, mechanical nature of the Moon. I do want to frolic. Nothing ever changes here on the moon. It's all so... so... artificial," she said.

By now, Myddin was practically beaming.

"Would you perhaps say that being so stuck on tradition is unwise?" he prompted.

Serena shrugged, and nodded.

"I suppose. It could also be dangerous," she replied. "I guess nothing stays the same forever. Look at me, yesterday I was still trapped in the castle. Today I walked down the street like a commoner and actually visited someone's house without an army escort. I actually looked through the eyepiece of a state-of-the-art telescope and saw a spaceship in the deep recesses of the universe. That wouldn't have happened yesterday."

Myddin nodded.

"So you seek knowledge of both worlds?" he asked. "Why?"

"I've seen mother," Serena replied. "We sit in the throne room and listen to secondhand information, only sometimes with video evidence. If I am ever to rule, I need to know the world, both worlds. Ruling from a throne that never sees the far place we're aiding would be like operating with blinders on. I need to know our own kingdom, for sure, but I also need to know who we watch over and offer assistance to. I need to meet who we offer guidance to down there. And is it so wrong to just want to go there?"

Myddin shrugged and shook his head.

"Nothing wrong with that at all," he replied.

Serena nervously smiled back.

"I need... I _want_ to know it all. I want to see all the those wonderful things you've shown me... Well, the ones that won't bite my face off, anyway."

Myddin chuckled at that remark.

"Yes, I can imagine a tiger is especially imposing," he stated.

"I was thinking more of that shark you showed us," Serena deadpanned. "I still get nightmares about that poor fish it beheaded."

Myddin shrugged.

"I don't regret showing you that. You needed to know that where beauty lies, so do thorns," he said.

"Dangerous or not, we can't just keep hiding from the Earth up here, waiting to be discovered on their terms. There are kindred spirits down there, but we can't just hope they'll find us before... before someone who would not be our friend does. And..."

She looked away, biting her lip. She wasn't sure she should bother reiterating this, since it had been said so many times in the past 24 hours. Sighing, she decided to just come out with it. She locked eyes with Myddin again to finish her thought:

"And besides, we kind of... well, there is no 'kind of.' We _do_ owe them for a couple of botched actions that have had negative consequences for them."

Myddin seemed to observe her for a moment, and then moved to the other side of his desk. He sat down and leaned forward, laying his hand on the box containing his mini-transporter.

"You know, I had actually been wondering what prompted me to make this," he said. "I think I know why now."

With that, he silently pushed the object towards her and then sat back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap. Serena sat in disbelief, staring at the box. Then she looked up towards him, waiting for him to confirm what she thought he was doing. He winked, and spoke again:

"I trust you will ensure it ends up in the right hands, and that they will use it wisely going to and fro England and the palace," he said.

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the desktop, cradling his head in his hands.

"Though I would recommend whoever receives this to move the Moon coordinates _out_ of the palace courtyard, to someplace more private," he said. "It shouldn't be that hard, the device itself will walk them through it."

"I'll be sure to tell them, but should you really be giving up your one and only prototype?" Serena asked.

"Oh," Myddin smiled again. "Now that I know how to make the wrist-transporter, I can do it again easily enough, and... Oh! Yes!"

He eyes lit up like he remembered something.

"Whoever goes down to England should probably have themselves inoculated for Earth diseases. Thankfully, the palace medical wing keeps its shots for earth diseases divided into cabinets. They'll be appropriately labeled. Just tell the proper person to find the marked for 'England/Scotland/Wales'."

"Yes... I'll be sure to tell them," Serena replied happily.

"Good girl. Now run along, and enjoy the rest of your first day of being free to leave the palace," Myddin told him. "Though I would be cautious of who you allow to see that."

He then widened his eyes on faux-alarm.

"They might get the wrong idea about what you're planning to do with it."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Serena asked mischievously.

"No. No, we can't."

"Alright, then. I bid you adieu, Master Myddin. I take my leave and ensure this gift is put to good use. A good day to you," she said.

She stood, curtsied, and skipped off with her new gift. Myddin smiled and nodded as she left, and then stroked his beard in thought.

"Perhaps the Princess of the Moon and Prince of Earth can meet, after all," he thought.

Serena, meanwhile, darted through some empty side halls of the castle which were rarely used even by the staff at that time of day, giddy with excitement. She was going to Earth! It'd finally happened.

"I'm going down!" she thought happily as she made her way to her bedroom.

* * *

"SETTING COORDINATES," words scrolled across the small screen of the wrist-transporter.

"Yes!" Serena hissed excitedly.

She was standing in the middle of the walk-in closet of her bedroom. She'd been fiddling with the device for a half-hour now before stumbling onto the "use current location as returning point" option. So, she'd gone into her closet to set _it_ as the other transport point.

"COORINDATES SET."

Serena's heart stopped, her finger hovered over the "Send" button, but she reined in her enthusiasm. Serena looked down at herself. She was clothed only in her nightgown. It was the middle of the night. The teenage princess had hid the box in the back of a shelf in her closet and waited until everyone had gone to bed before even taking it back out. And worse, the empty syringe was still lying on her dresser out in the open. Serena touched the sore spot on her shoulder where the needle to immunize herself to Earth diseases had gone in. She'd need to dispose of the evidence before she could leave.

"And I can't go down there dressed like this, or with my real hairstyle, or with..."

Her eyes rolled upwards, towards the forehead she couldn't actually see without a mirror. She raised her hand and touched her fingers to the crescent moon mark.

"I'd be discovered immediately if anyone sees this, or worse, they'd know immediately I'm Moon Kingdom royalty," she thought, with a tinge of worry.

Thankfully, she knew the method their agents used to mask it. Her mother had another thing coming if she thought Serena hadn't been paying special attention to that little tidbit. The first time she'd ever seen someone disembark to the planet was eternally noted. Serena turned and pushed her closet door open a crack, carefully and slowly. No one had entered her room to check on her. The empty syringe still lay where she'd set it, so she came out. She went over to the dresser mirror and looked at her reflection.

"Alright, so what do I need?" she asked herself aloud, and then answered. "Different hairstyle, Earthling peasant clothes, and a Mark Mask."

She looked over at the door, contemplating sneaking out to go get all those things right then and there. She resisted, knowing she'd be caught sneaking around in the middle of the night when security was even tighter. She turned to look at herself in the mirror again, smiling.

"Alright, one more day," she said. "Tomorrow, I get the disguise, and the Mark Mask when I can. Then I go to bed early."

She giggled excitedly.

"Oh, my, this is it! I'm really going!" she gasped.

Her hand tapped the syringe again.

"Oh, right. Evidence I need to dispose of," she murmured.

* * *

Morning, Delta 11th, 9989, Moon Kingdom reckoning. May 3rd, 991 A.D., Earth reckoning.

The following day was a blur, but not in the way she'd been hoping for. Between sorting the court in the morning with her mother and then visiting Marquess Inanna again to apologize for a visit cut so short, she barely had time to get the materials she needed without notice. But she did it. She'd managed to dip into the transporter station under the pretenses of signing a report for some repairs. Then she secreted out the compact of Mark Mask their agents used while the technicians weren't looking and hid it in the bottom of their purse. On her way out, she had to resist the urge to get greedy, knowing it wasn't worth getting caught walking the halls with a Earth peasant girl outfit in her arms. Though by evening's hour, she was able to procure the disguise. Now the Mark Mask and dress were stashed in the bottom of her old toy chest in the back corner of her closet. She'd almost been caught, too, but thankfully had an armful of her other clothes she had taken fresh from the laundry to hide it in.

 _"Princess, why are you carrying your own laundry?" Adrestia had asked._

 _"What? I know you all want me to grow up a bit more and earn the new freedom I've been granted. Well, I was near the laundry station, anyway, right around when I knew it'd be finishing up. So I thought I'd just go ahead and take it back to my room myself this time. I have to head over there, anyway, since I have some papers to sign for the court."_

Adrestia had been too shocked to be suspicious, thankfully.

And just a little while ago, Serena pretended to turn in early for the night. Now she was in her closet again. Pillows and sheets were arranged in her bed to look like her sleeping form. As for the real Serena, her hair was in a side-braid again, she was outfitted in the peasant girl gown, and the wrist-transporter was ready to go. She opened the compact of Mark Mask, and dipped her finger into the makeup. Then she touched it to the crescent moon mark on her forehead. The enchantment took hold and the symbol vanished behind an illusion that'd last for hours. Serena stuck the compact into a pocket before lifting the wrist-transporter to her face again.

"This is it," she told herself, and pressed the button.

 **Next Chapter:** A Moon Child in England; And a Prince


End file.
